You Can Always Go Home
by Zenerific1
Summary: Naruto goes home trying to escape an abusive past. OOC/AU Sasuke/FemNaruto
1. Chapter 1

I hid in the shadows outside of the window suppressing the giggles that were threatening to pass through my lips. Carefully, and with one eye closed tightly in pre-wince for any sound that might betray me, I slid the unlatched window open, hoping that the old thing wouldn't squeak. It didn't and I breathed out a slow breath not wanting to make any noise that would wake some one up, mainly the person who owned the room that I was sneaking into.

Standing on a crate that I had carried from the shed, I eased one leg over the window seal and down to the carpeted floor below. My lip held tightly in my teeth in concentration I eased all of my weight onto it and then began the task of getting the other into the room with as little sound as possible. The sill reached up and caught my foot and I hopped in place trying to free it wincing with each thump. I lost my balance and toppled to the floor then laid there holding my breath waiting for the lump in the bed to wake up and sound the alarm.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the lump didn't so much as stir from under the covers and I stood up slowly. Moving to the bed I looked down at the pale face of the one sleeping soundly in the darkness. The face was so pale that it nearly seemed to glow and I grinned evilly, or as evilly as my cherubic features would allow. Sometimes being blond and cute had its drawbacks.

Reaching into the back pocket of my jeans, I pulled out an orange permanent marker and uncapped the lid. I saw his eyes flutter briefly and my own widened thinking that I was about to be discovered. I held my breath and waited until he had relaxed once more into his dreams.

I'd snuck into his room numerous times when we were younger, for various purposes, mostly to wake him up and talk to him in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep because I was worried about one thing or another. But to day I was here seeking revenge for the unforgivable.

Narrowing my eyes and glaring at his perfect features I began to draw on that perfect canvas of his. Occasionally he would twitch or wave me away like a pestering fly but I returned to finish my creation. I felt immense satisfaction one I was done and stood back and surveyed my work, relaxing now that I was finished.

Looking towards the window I could see that the sun was going to be peeking of the ridge of the mountain soon because the night had lightened and a hint of a glow was beginning to form. I flicked on the light of his bedroom knowing that it wouldn't wake him and I was correct as I saw his face scrunch up in annoyance before relaxing again. The orange showed up really well on his pale skin and from the color he would know that it was me who had been behind the handy work of such glorious artwork. My smile widened even further as I pulled my cell from my pocket and pointed it at him. Snapping a quick couple of pictures, I wondered what the fangirl club was going to think when they saw the art work.

The lump on the bed rolled until he was flat on his back and the quilt that had previously been tucked under his chin was pulled to his waist giving me an up close view of his toned torso. For a brief minute or two I could only stare at the hard planes of his sculpted chest. I pulled my gaze away and blinked trying to get my eyes working properly again since they had dried up from not blinking for so long.

Avoiding looking at the bed again I went back to the window and slipped back out it the way I had come. All evidence of a night visitor had been taken care of and put back the way I had found it and I was back in my own room staring up at the darkened ceiling trying to not think about Sasuke and how hot he had been lying in the bed with the covers pulled down to his waist while one arm was thrown over his head. His ebony locks tousled and lying over the deep red of his pillow, his pale body framed by the crimson sheets…

"Baka!" I muttered to myself and rolled over only to come face to face with the devil himself glaring at me from his place of leaning against the wall next to my open window.

"Baka is correct," he said quietly then strode purposely forward to stand over my frozen form. The first thing I noticed (okay, it wasn't the first thing I noticed but it's the most important thing at the moment) was that his face wore a shiny pink hue and the orange was gone. _Darn it!_

"What did you think you were doing?" he asked and I could hear the anger in his voice. I winced but stared up at him silently my mouth dry. I wasn't sure if it was from the fear of facing and angry Uchiha or from the other feelings that I held for him.

We'd been best friends since we'd met in kindergarten at the sand box when he had stopped an older kid from trying to shove sand into my mouth because I'd refused to be his girlfriend. I gone to him when I was scared that I was bleeding to death when I got my first period and he'd rolled his eyes at me before explaining in exasperation that I wasn't dying. I'd run to him when my mother had died from cancer and cried on his shoulder as he held me, and didn't tell me that everything was going to be okay, just held me in my grief and let me know that I wasn't alone. We'd celebrated together, laughed together, and played pranks on one another (well, alright, I played pranks and he would just glare at me). He'd helped me with my homework when I couldn't understand it, I would stand by his side and stare down any of the raging fangirls that would approach him and protect him from their machinations, he'd dance with me at the school dances and I would keep him distracted from his school work by dragging him to girly movies. He'd watch me with that dark gaze and I'd grin at him stupidly.

"Revenge," I muttered finally able to move and I sat up in bed, scooting so that I could lean back against the head board. I folded my arms across my chest and pouted at him.

"Revenge?" he asked. My chin raised a bit as he asked that question. How could he ask that? It was simply unforgivable that he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Yes, teme, revenge! You gave away your nine-tails plushy to the church donation box!"

"So?"

I glared in a killing rage and was sure that my eyes turned a deep crimson which didn't affect him any.

"So! S-So! We won those at the fair last year!" My voice was beginning to get louder than the whispers that we had been talking in previously.

"Sshh," he hissed. "You'll wake your dad!"

I leaned forward but kept my voice low, but just barely. "So you weren't supposed to give them away, we were to keep them forever and then give them to our kids when we got together for play dates!"

Sasuke paused and his dark eyes grew intense at that last bit of my sentence and I wasn't sure why. I waited for a response and after a minute I grew impatient, and a little…it wasn't uncomfortable as that I grew a little…uneasy with the way he was looking at me.

"What?" I asked. The question roused him enough that the intense look went away and he seemed to give himself a mental shake.

"Hn?"

I rolled my eyes at the non-answer before I remembered why he was there in the first place. "The nine-tails? You gave it away!"

"It was just a toy and I'm not going to keep it so that it could grow mold, or bacteria, or something as it sits around collecting dust and being useless." His answer hurt me a little and he must have seen it in my eyes because he sighed. He sat down on the bed then shifted around so that he was leaning up against the head board also, his arm settled onto my shoulders, and he pulled me into him so that my head was pillowed on his shoulder the way it had at least a million other times. But this time, my heart began to pound in my chest and I felt my chest grow tight, and things low in my belly seemed to pull causing me to shut my eyes briefly.

"I know that it was just a toy, but it was also a memory," I tried to explain as I relaxed against him.

"The memory is still there, Naruto, and we have picture to remind us of that time."

"I know but I still…I guess, I just didn't want to loose it and the toy brought back that happy memory each time I look at it or hold it, and I wanted you to feel the same way."

I didn't need to look up at him to feel him smirk, but I did feel the snort that he let out. "I don't need the fox to remind me of those feelings." He said simply but didn't elaborate. He words made me feel better and I grinned then looked up at him.

"I still have your picture and I'm going to print it up and hang it all over the school!"

* * *

I opened my eye and trembling looked around me in terror, all I saw were the white walls and all I heard were the bleeping of machines. I shook with fear trying to find him, to see where the next attack would be coming from and then I heard the keening from a distant person. My head pounded as if someone was trying to break out from the inside, I couldn't seem to breathe right because of the ache deep in my chest. My whole body was simply full of pain and I wanted to tell the person who was making that wretched noise to shut it! That it would bring only pain and misery if she didn't keep quiet.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, I won't do it again! Please…" the words broke off when I realized that they were coming from me. The scared, awful, pleading sound, a sound that I had made on more that one occasion, the sound that told him just how weak I was.

"Naruto?"

I jumped and wanted to cower away from whoever had spoken to me, but I forced myself to turn my head and look at the one who was talking. The woman smiled kindly at me but I could see the pity in her eyes, a look that many had given me in the past two years. I looked down feeling the hot shame that came every time I saw that look, the knowledge that they knew, and the inescapable fact that they couldn't help me any more than I could help myself. I was trapped.

"Naruto, I'm Doctor Sannin," the woman said matter-of-factly as she came to stand next to the bed, reading the machines and checking the IV. She held a clip board in one hand and lifted it to write on with a pen that she took from the white coat she wore. Once whatever she needed to write was written she turned and gave me her full attention.

"Naruto, do you remember what happened?" she asked and I shook my head.

Yes, I lied, well in general I lied because I knew what had happened but I told the truth too because I really didn't _know_ what had happened. Confused yet? Let me clarify.

I knew that I had been beaten, again, but the details…I didn't know.

"Well, Naruto, I don't need to know what happened but I can give you a general layout of your injuries. You've suffered trauma to your head which had left you with a sever concussion, so you've been unconscious for a while. Your right arm is broken in two places and your left has suffered several fractures. Both of your legs are broken in a couple places and there are several small hairline fractures, your left is in worse condition than your right because it looks as if someone ran it over with a car. Your ribs are broken and one of the bones pierced your lung. You have internal bruising and swelling as well as several contusions and cuts on the rest of your body. Your face is mostly swollen which is why you can't open your eye right now. You will have some scarring on your cheeks but plastic surgery should get rid of most of the scars though and until the swelling goes down, I'm keeping you here in the hospital.

"Since its procedure, I have notified the police of your condition and since you have woken up they have several questions for you." She looked at her chart again.

"You were brought here nearly a week ago and you've been slipping in and out of a coma, this is the first time that you've been fully conscious. So things are looking up right now. And, Naruto, if I may be so bold as to say, I fully recommend that you tell the police. You won't survive another beating." If she smiled again or not I didn't see it because I was still looking down at my hands, seeing the deep gashes in them along with the scratches and bruises.

She pulled a syringe from her pocket and inserted the needle into the drip tube of the IV and injected it with something.

"It's a pain killer and will help you to rest better, it isn't enough to put you under since the police are waiting outside to question you but its enough that you won't be in constant pain," she explained efficiently then giving me a once over she turned and left the room.

Before the door could close fully, it was opened again and a man and woman stepped into the room. They were dressed in casual clothing and I wondered at it, but only dimly. They too looked at me with pity. I wanted to scream at them and tell them that I didn't need their pity and I most certainly didn't want it.

If my jaw hadn't hurt so much I would have ground my teeth together. It may have had something to do with the pain killer that the doctor had given me and I was beginning to feel that uncaring stage of the drug. It was beginning to make it so that I wasn't bothered by the pain.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" the man asked. I nodded slowly trying to focus on the slightly blurry faces of the two, both at the same time.

"But its Oto, Oto Naruto," I corrected.

"You're driver's license states that you're still Uzumaki," the cop said.

"It does?"

"Yes." He was beginning to study me like a bug under a microscope. The woman was hanging back just observing the byplay between her partner and me.

"And you are?" I asked, my head feeling slightly foggy as I concentrated of them.

"Oh, sorry," the man muttered them slipped his wallet out of his pocket and slipping it open. I barely registered the seal that he was showing me. "I'm Detective Morino, and this is Detective Fuuma."

Morino was a tall man with thick bulky shoulders, not the bulky-fat type cop but one that was solidly built who worked out regularly at strenuous exercise. He was bald, wore a skull cap and his face held two scars that looked like they have come from a knife. Fuuma on the other hand was short, thin, and had carroty hair. The hair was long except for the top layer that was pulled back into a pony tail that spiked into the air, and a fringe of bangs that hung in her eyes and she constantly swept them aside in irritations, like they had just recently grown too long and she hadn't had time to get them cut.

"Well, Naruto, let me tell you about what we know so far. We know that you've been beaten pretty badly, and you were found unconscious last Wednesday in the middle of your driveway. Your house has been vandalized and your husband is missing."

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**A/N Published without the Authors Notes so I had to go back and fix it. Also had to fix the little time skip, I hope that you all saw that!  
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**Do you people know how hard it is to sit down and write something AND then publish it for your enjoyment!(and I'm not talking about the people who review because I think that you guys are awesome) I look at the traffic and upwards of three hundred people have read the stories but maybe 1 percent of them have reviewed! Its terribly frustrated especially when the first chapter is getting over a thousand hits. I'm not whining but it would help to have feed back on the story. **

**Well, now that I've competely turned you people off. I hope that you like th beginning of this. I'm not sure where I'm going with this or even if I'll get there. I've got a couple of chapters written but I'll be updating this slowly and hopefully regularly. **

**Please leave a review, and if I'm able to, I will reply. Let me know if you liked it, what you liked, or anything you want to add or even see. Although I don't guarantee that I'll use it, but ideas don't hurt! I've had several good ideas brought to my attention and I'm sorry that I haven't/didn't use them but thank you for them!**

**Lots of angst and fear written into the next chapter with a possible cliffy! Stay tuned!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I just want to thank everyone who reviewed, as always you guys are my muse and the ones that keep me writing. Without you I would probably have given up a long time ago!**

**Disclaimer: I didn't last time, and I don't this time...I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters, they all belong to Kishimoto-san though I dream about them at night! Heh--good dreams...**

**Okay now for the long awaited update...  
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I sat in the jeep that I'd bought and was currently just outside the city limits of my hometown, pulled over, and staring at the green sign that proclaimed it the town of Konoha. I'd been sitting there for nearly thirty minutes just staring at the sign, trying to work up the courage to drive into the town. My heart pounded painfully in my chest and my stomach was churning with acid and I wanted to throw up. I hadn't eaten since that morning's piece of toast so the option of emptying the contents of my stomach was an impossibility despite the face that I wanted to do it. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon making the clouds my favorite color of orange mixed with a hue of pink.

My mouth was dry but I kept trying to work up a little saliva so that I could swallow and maybe the fear along with it. I didn't fear the town itself but the memories that came with it, memories that I'd put in a little box in the back of my mind and refused to take out again. But now the box was threatening to burst and I was trying to run from it as quickly as possible so that I didn't have to see.

I'd left this town three years ago and I hadn't been back but since my stay in the hospital six months ago I didn't know where else to go and this was home. Dr. Sannin had helped me to buy a house because I didn't want anyone to know that I was here, at least for the moment, until I could figure out what to say to them really. There was only one person who knew that I was coming and she only knew because Dr. Sannin had insisted that I make regular appointments with a physical therapist and had even placed the call herself, making me set up the appointment.

Haruno Sakura just happened to be one of my childhood friends. She'd married her childhood sweetheart, Rock Lee but had chosen to keep her last name for professional reasons. And she was now my physical therapist.

I made the appointment, but had demanded she keep my presence under confidentiality.

"But, Naruto, don't you think that S--"

"I expect you to keep your mouth shut," I hissed breaking her off before she could say his name.

The silence that had greeted me told me that I had hurt her, I'd felt guilty, but I was adamant that no one know that I would be there.

"Okay, Naruto, I will not tell anyone that you are here," she'd agreed.

"That includes your husband."

"I know that." And she hung up.

Now I was beginning to regret making this decision, but I needed to make peace with myself and this was the only place I could do it.

I still couldn't remember anything about that night or what happened. I didn't know if my husband was alive and I didn't know if I could be granted a divorce from a missing man. Detective Morino had been relentless in his questioning but I couldn't give him any information. They'd gone so far as to convince me to see a hypnotist but that had been a bust since I couldn't relax enough to be put under. I'd spent three years controlling my every action, being watchful, and observant of my surroundings that it had become second nature.

A patrol car pulled up behind me breaking me out of my thoughts and I hissed under my breath watching as the door opened and a shaggy brunette stepped out of the car. The sunglasses didn't hide the red fang tattoos on his face and I would recognize those anywhere. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and groaned out a swear word.

"Fuck."

I watched him approach and dropped my head to feign interest in my lap. He tapped on my window and I slowly rolled it down avoiding looking up at him.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

I shook my head but didn't look up at him, which I knew was suspicious.

"I was just looking at a map to see if I was headed in the right direction," I said softly as an excuse for sitting on the side of the road.

"Where are you headed, ma'am, maybe I could help?"

"Oh, um, I was going to Bear Lake." I was beginning to get to the point that I would soon start hyperventilating and wouldn't that just be dandy. Not only would I pass out but then he would know who I was and the news would spread faster than a fire in dry grass.

"Then you're headed in the right directions. Just head straight and in ten miles you will come to a junction, turn left and after another fifteen miles you will reach Bear Lake." He gave the directions easily and I wondered how many people had gotten lost on this stretch of road. I nearly laughed because it just seemed ridiculous that someone could get lost here. There was only one road until that junction and you wouldn't get lost on it if you paid attention to the signs.

"Oh, thank you!"

"If you don't mind my asking, can I see your license?"

I nearly looked at him at that but forced my head to stay down.

"Why?" I asked.

"No reason, but you won't look at me so that makes me wonder if you have a reason for hiding."

"I've done nothing wrong and if you don't mind, I would like to get going again." My voice had hardened and I'd grown rude in my panic.

"I could ticket you for parking in a no parking zone." His voice had become just as hard.

"If you were going to ticket me you would have done so by now. Please, may I just go?"

He paused as if studying my down turned head then I heard him step back. "Yes, but I have taken down your plate number and will be running it."

I nodded then rolled the window back up. Putting the car into gear I pulled back onto the road and drove into town, looking back just once to see Kiba getting back into his car. I didn't fear that he had the plate numbers because the car was registered officially to my husband. If he dug deep enough he would find me, but just for a simple help with directions he wouldn't go further that finding out who the jeep belonged to.

Once I was sure that he wasn't following, I turned off the main road and drove to my house. It was nearly a mile down a dirt road (the reason why I had taken the jeep instead of the caddy that and the fact that the Cadillac would stand out like a sore thumb) and was situated back from the road and hidden from view by a large grove of trees. It was close to a reservoir where the old men fished when I was little girl but far enough away so that no one would be pounding on my door wishing a visit.

I pulled up to the large, cabin style structure and looked at it with satisfaction. The deep golden color mixed well with the pine and aspen trees. Most of the front was made up of tall windows from the second story roof to the first story floor. It angled outward sharply and was surrounded by a thickly posted porch.

Pulling the two suitcases that I had brought with me from the back of the jeep, I limped up the three steps and onto the porch. I paused long enough to unlock the door and was inside.

The house opened to a large great room that was warm and inviting with Lodge Pole Pine furniture covered with brown suede leather cushions, an enormous fireplace taking up a chunk of the wall on the far side of the room with two door leading off from the right of it, and a large deer horn chandelier hanging from the exposed rafters over head. To my left was a stair way that led up to a loft where there were a couple of spare rooms and a bathroom and beyond that was an open dinning room and kitchen. The kitchen held brand new stainless steel appliances surrounded by the golden wood of the cupboards. A long island separated the kitchen from the dining room which held a long Amish style table in the same golden wood as the cupboards. In the middle of the table was a bouquet of flowers and I knew that they were from Sakura but I didn't go over and examine them. Instead I dropped the suitcases at the door and walked over to the over stuffed sofa and sank down into the cushions, curling up on the leather and thinking that I wouldn't move for the rest of my life.

I sat holding a cup of hot tea and sipping it as I looked out at the night. The stars were shining in great clusters in the deep dark blue velvet night, like a jeweler had emptied a bag of small diamonds across it to display his wares. It was deep night and my body was exhausted but I wouldn't sleep even if I tried. I was too afraid to sleep, because the nightmares would haunt my slumber if I did.

I barely ate and I never slept if I could help it, though my body would become so physically exhausted that I would eventually succumb to the need only to wake a few hours afterward in a cold sweat from the dreams that terrified me and never fully rested.

The cool summer breeze caressed my scared cheeks and lifted the short tendrils of my blond hair as I took another sip of the tea. The forest beyond the railing at the back of the house chirped from several crickets and rustled with the sounds of nocturnal animals that rummaged for food in the darkness undisturbed by my silent presence. I breathed deeply getting hints of a pine scent along with the clean smell of fresh mountain air. It provided the first peace that I'd had in over three years.

I shifted the burgundy fleece blanket higher up my shoulders to ward off the coolness of the night and drew my legs closer to my chest setting my chin on one as I wrapped my arms around them careful not to spill the hot Earl Grey. The deep shadows of the porch hid me from any prying eyes and the cushioned bench I was sitting on was comfortable enough and large enough that if I wanted I could stretch out full length on it and sleep, if I had wanted, but I didn't.

I'd been here for three days and hadn't ventured any further than the steps of the porch, but tomorrow I was supposed to meet with Sakura for my first physical therapy session. She refused to come out here, telling me that it would do me more good to come into town for the sessions. I would have refused but then she would contact Dr. Tsunade Sannin and for some reason I didn't want to disappoint the one person who had helped me so much in the past six months.

I wished that I could return to my former self so that I could put her at ease. But I didn't know where I had buried that person. I can't seem to find her anymore and for some misplaced reason I missed that carefree youth who could tease a perfect stranger, joke with friends, and grin at a moment's notice. I don't remember when she had gone away but six months ago I had noticed that she was gone, possibly permanently.

I absently rubbed at an ache in my leg, I barely registered it since it was a constant hurt and even through the thick denim on my pants I could feel the hard length of a scar that hadn't been removed yet by plastic surgery. They had focused on my face mostly but even there they hadn't been able to remove all of the scars. Three thin lines marred each of my cheeks looking more like the whiskers of an animal really than scars. Tsunade had told me that they gave me a foxy look so instead of trying one last time to have them removed I had allowed them to remain, if only to remind me of everything that I had lost or given up.

I brushed the long bangs out of my face when the breeze shifted them to hang in my eyes and wondered when I would be able to look in the mirror and no longer see the dark haunted blue eyes that looked back at me out of a thin face of a stranger that looked vaguely familiar. I recognized the face but not the person who held it, that person was a stranger and had been for a long time.

I took another sip of the tea then leaned down and set the cup on the wooden planks of the deck then picked up a book, opening it to the last page that I had read and forced my mind away from the thought that I had been having. I concentrated on the book pushing away any other thoughts.

Sakura looked the same as she had always looked. Her bright pink hair was cut in a becoming, shoulder length style with a red ribbon holding it back away from her face. Her green eyes were trained on me as I forced my legs to lift the ten pound weights away from the others. She was very pretty and she smiled easily at me as I succeeded for the twentieth time with teeth clenched against the pain and weak muscles that didn't like to cooperate most of the time.

"Very good, Naruto," she praise as she wrote on her clip board.

I grunted in response letting my leg drop as well as the weight. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the small white towel that she had provided.

"So how have you been?" A personal question. I had been expecting it sooner but she had put me through my paces first without even a hint of curiosity. She'd asked it softly and I looked up at her.

She could see the dark circles under my eyes and the thinness of my body. It didn't take a genius to know how I've been but she asked anyway. I didn't know if I should respond with the truth or if I should make up a pretty lie. I opened my mouth to respond with the lie but then closed it saying nothing. She waited patiently. She'd been patient through the whole session, calmly offering praise here and there and waiting for me to do the required exercise.

"I don't know how to respond," I said simply. Her eyebrows rose at that and she studied me closely.

"Would you mind if I asked what happened?"

"Yes, I'm not comfortable talking about it right now."

"Would you come over for dinner tonight?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. You know that you can't hide forever, someone will eventually see you."

"I know, but I…I can't deal with it right now."

"You know we're here for you, no matter what?" Sakura's voice had begun to tremble with emotion.

"Don't!" I said harshly anger suffusing my being and I forced it down. "I don't need your pity!"

"It's not pity. It's hurt, anger, and grief! You left and didn't bother to come back! You didn't write, you didn't call! HELL, you didn't even come back for your father's funeral! What the hell happened to you, Naruto?!" Sakura's voice had risen. "When you finally do show up, you're this hollow shell, and you're nearly crippled!"

My chin rose as I composed my face into an impassive mask, or what I hoped was an impassive mask. I couldn't afford for her to know how weak I was, because if she did I would see that pity I'd accused her of having earlier. I couldn't stand to see that look in her eyes, in any of my old friends' eyes which was another reason why I was avoiding them.

Why had I come back? I thought now. Did I want to punish myself? Sakura was right about one thing, I had cut myself off from them. I'd run from here at first but I still meant to keep in touch with most of them. But at some point I'd chosen to forget about my life here. I'd done it to protect myself and my friends, or was it my decision?

I rubbed at my temples then stood and gathered up my bag and the light jacket that I had worn against the chill of the morning. I didn't put the jacket on but just held it over my arm while I swung the bag up onto my shoulder.

"Naruto, look, I'm sorry," Sakura apologized as she too stood and her hand came out to touch my arm. I flinched involuntarily at the gesture and she quickly pulled her hand back. I'd been so long since someone had touched me that it was awkward and uncomfortable for me, foreign. She stepped away from me with a sigh. "Just…just know that I will help you in any way that I can, and I won't tell anyone that I've seen you. I just…" She shook her head unable to finish as tears welled in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, I…I shouldn't have come here. I should have known that I couldn't come home." I moved to the door coming up short as I looked out and saw Kiba's patrol car parked in front of my jeep. "Shit!"

"What? What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Kiba. Fuck! What the hell am I going to do now, because if I go out there, he's going to see me?" I covered my face with a hand and rubbed my forehead trying to think of a solution. He had recognized the jeep and now he had probably guessed that I had lied to him about needing directions, well, maybe.

I fumbled in my bag looking for a pair of large sunglasses that could possibly hide my face. I heard a thud and looked up, my eyes widened in fear as I was that he had gotten out of the car and was coming toward the building. I gasped and turned to see Sakura with her arms folded across her chest and a smile gracing her lips.

"Looks like your time has run out, Naruto," she smirked at me. I looked around the office trying to find a place to escape to but she didn't even have a bathroom! My heart was thundering and I looked at her. The smirk left her lips as she saw the stark terror in my eyes. "Hey, hey, Naruto, it's not that bad! Kiba wouldn't hurt you." But my mind was beyond logical thought; I was at the scared rabbit trying to run from the wolf stage ready to bolt into oncoming traffic.

The door opened allowing a breeze to wash over me as I spun to face him. His eyes recognized me and a huge grin lifted his lips but my world went gray as I fainted for the first time in my life.

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**A/N: Wow, another cliffhanger! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter...**

**Okay for those of you that missed it in the first chapter, the beginning was a memory, or a dream of a memory, then there was a time skip and no, Naruto and Sasuke aren't together here, her last name is or was supposed to be OTO. Then we have another time skip here that I hope you caught which was six months.**

**Alrighty, now I've given hints about what happened and left more mystery behind....hopefully to entice you to continue reading! If you have any ideas about what happened or what should happen, hey, go ahead and leave them behind and I will take them into consideration! I've still got two chapters fully written but I think that this story is going to be a bitch to write because I'm going completely off my imagination! Now please leave a review! even if you don't normally because they are what inspire me to write quickly! Let me know what you liked about the chapter, what you didn't like (if anything), or if I just made a mistake somewhere that I didn't catch!**

**Now, I've got to go and get ready for work because I'm running behind!!!!**

**ZEN  
**


	3. Chapter 3

"Dammit! Sakura, what the fuck?" Kiba asked.

I was lying prone on a couch, I could tell that much but I wasn't about to open my eyes until I was ready. I felt a cold cloth on my forehead as well as the jacket that I'd worn lying over my chest. My heart had picked up again at the sound of Kiba's voice but it didn't thunder in my ears they way it had earlier.

"Kiba, please, calm down. I'm trying to call someone here," Sakura reprimanded from somewhere to the upper right and Kiba's voice kept changing positions making me think that he was pacing.

"This is Dr. Sannin, how can I help you?" Tsunade's voice was near Sakura's.

"Dr. Sannin, this is Sakura Haruno, Naruto's physical therapist and friend."

"Oh, Ms. Haruno, how is Naruto doing, did she make the appointment?"

"Yes, but right now she's unconscious on my couch."

"What? Why?"

"Well, she panicked and fainted."

"She's terrified of me!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Who is that?" Dr. Sannin asked.

"This is Kiba Inuzuka, another friend of Naruto's; seems that she panicked when he came in and fainted but we don't have any idea why she's so afraid of him," Sakura explained briefly.

"Oh, I see. It's not you that she's terrified of, so don't take that personally. Hmm…I think that it's more that she's afraid of being rejected by you because of her past." Tsunade stated calmly.

"What past?" Kiba demanded.

"That I'm not at liberty to say. It's Naruto's, so you should ask her or wait until she tells you."

"Could you tell me more about her injuries, how she got them?" Sakura asked.

"Again, no, you need to ask Naruto. How long ago did she faint?"

"Um, about five minutes ago," Sakura answered looking up at the clock.

"Then she should be rousing any minute now, and if she doesn't then you should take her to the hospital. She didn't hit her head, did she?"

"No, she just went down in the middle of the floor so she didn't sustain an injury," again Sakura.

"Good, but I should warn you. Don't push her, she will talk when she's ready, if you push her then she'll panic again and probably run and that wouldn't help anyone, any where, least of all Naruto." With those last words of advice I heard the phone go silent as Tsunade hung up.

I decided that I'd had enough of cowering on the couch and sat up, pushing a shaking hand through my short locks and trying to look sternly at Kiba. I would have stood except that I wasn't sure if my legs would have held me upright and I didn't want to end up back on the floor.

"Hello, Naruto, long time no see," he said. He looked the same as when I'd left the only thing different about him was the uniform.

"K—Kiba."

"So did you make it to the lake?" He grinned tucking a hand into his front pocket and lazing against Sakura's desk. "How about I take a look at that driver's license now? You know just to make sure you're you?"

I ducked my head and looked at my hands, unsure of what I should say. "I'm sorry for deceiving you but I didn't want anyone to know that I was here." If the old me had been here, I'm sure she would have said something smart but me now, didn't know how to act around my friends anymore. One more loss in a sea filled with it.

"Why?" Kiba asked as he came to stand over her.

"I wanted some peace and quiet," Naruto said knowing that it didn't explain anything. "Kiba, you can't tell any one that I'm here."

"No can do, Naruto, I gave Sasuke my word that if I heard from you I would tell him," Kiba said with a short look towards Sakura who's head fell and she looked somewhat shame faced. "I keep my promises unlike some people."

"Kiba! If I hadn't agreed to keep her presence to myself she wouldn't be here now," Sakura defended.

"It's alright, Sakura, since the cat's out of the bag so to speak, I'll contact Dr. Sannin and go back to the city. I'll get a hold of someone else for PT. Thanks for your help though," Naruto interrupted the two before it became a full blown argument.

"Nani! Naruto, no!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, Naruto, let's make a deal okay!" Kiba wheedled coming to stand in front of her then crouching down so that he could look into her face. His eyes widened in shock. It was the first time that he'd gotten a close up view of her. He'd carried her to the couch when she'd fainted but he'd been so busy glaring at Sakura that he hadn't noticed the rest of the time was an argument with Sakura. But now he was seeing the changes and the scars. His hand lifted and swiped gently over three symmetrical lines, faint but still there. "Sweet Fucking Christ, what happened?!" he asked shocked at seeing the scars. "Were you in an accident?"

I swiped at his hand knocking it away from my face and jerking back from the touch. I glared at him. "Don't touch me," I ground out leaning as far from him as possible. "Don't ever touch me again!"

Taken aback, Kiba stood and took two steps away from the couch and me. I ducked my head in shame at the treatment that I'd just given my friend and sighed roughly gathering my scattered wits.

"Look, I--I'm sorry for that but I really can't handle anyone touching me right now, so I would appreciate it if you didn't," I mumbled then pushed myself to my feet. "I have some plans to make so if you two will excuse me I will be out of your hair shortly." I stumbled a step before catching myself then limped to the door only to find it blocked by a pair of shiny, black shoes. I looked up into Kiba's feral brown eyes as he stood in front of my only escape with arms crossed.

"Sorry, Naruto, I still want to make a deal." His voice had grown hard, it was the kind of voice that he probably used on the law breakers, it was the voice his mother used when she scolded him, or any of us for getting into trouble. And for some reason hearing him use it made me want to laugh. I cocked my head to the side as I analyzed that feeling but a sound didn't leave my throat nor did it lift the corners of my lips, in fact, I doubted if the amusement even made it to my eyes.

"What kind of deal?"

"You stay here and I will give you a few days before I say anything to him," Kiba bargained.

I hated being cowardly and I knew that at this moment I wanted to run away and hide. I'd been licking my wounds for the last six months, hiding and I was so tired of it but with just Kiba mentioning telling _him_, I didn't think I had the courage to stay, but I nodded anyway because my pride demanded it. I was surprised that it was still there, even though it was hiding in the shadows shying away from the thought of seeing _him_.

"Good," Kiba sighed then stepped away from the door. "It's good that you're home." Again all I did was nod before opening the door and limping out and to my car. The shuffling steps irritating me more for the weakness that they showed and is was always worst after the session because the muscles ached so badly that all I wanted to do was curl up and cry. But I forced them to hold me upright until I could rest in the driver's seat panting with exertion then starting the vehicle and leaving, knowing that their eyes were on me the whole time. I had no doubts that they would be talking about me after I left, speculating on what I had gone through that could possibly put me in this state. They may even guess right, but I was glad I wouldn't be there for that discussion.

I drove out of town and past my grandfather's bar without stopping. I wasn't able to face him right now and I sure and hell wasn't about to forgive the old pervert. Maybe tomorrow I would be able to look at him without feeling the betrayal that had been plaguing me since he had tried to see me six months ago. I looked back at the place in the mirror and saw a flash of red and white as someone stepped out of the bar and I pressed even harder on the gas pedal so that I could leave all the sooner.

I paced the back deck of the cabin that I was trying to make my home. I say paced but it was more like a painful, limping, stagger but I was too restless to settle and allow my legs rest. My left one more than the right ached fiercely; letting me know that I was over doing it and would be paying for it in the morning. I staggered back to the wood and cushioned, pine bench to rest, messaging my left calf to keep it from cramping up but even as I did so the muscle tightened into a hard ball and I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming. I bunched one hand into a fist and hit the knot in hopes of making it loosen which apparently made it worse because brutal agony seared through me and I dropped to the porch clutching the limb with tears rolling down my face but no sound left my lips. I breathed harshly trying to pull my mind away from the agony and, as they say, work through the pain. Freaking idiots whoever thought up that little bit of advice, they could go fuck themselves.

I wasn't sure how long the cramp lasted but when it finally released its grip on me I lay panting on the two by fours unable to get up. I reached up to where I had discarded a fleece throw and pulled it over me tucking my hands under my chin and just laid there praying that somehow I could get through the next hour with my sanity intact, a prayer that I had begun six months ago because I had to search deep down and pull something out from my old self. A determination that they wouldn't win, but it was the one thing that I wasn't sure I could pull off when my mind was working against me.

I don't know how long I lay there lost in dark thoughts but I eventually felt the cool air creeping in even through the fleece. I got to my feet and entered the house. Stumbling into the bathroom, I turned on the shower hoping that the activity would wake me up at least until day light broke over the horizon and I could mark on the calendar that I had lived one more day.

Today I had one goal, talk to Jiraiya. I wasn't sure what was going to happen because the last time I had seen him I had said several unforgivable things to him. Things that even I couldn't believe had come from me.

I wrestled with my demons all night long, turning everything over in my head and coming to the conclusion that I didn't want to cower and hid anymore. I was so sick of being weak, letting the world walk on me, and the only way that I could become stronger is by facing my present. I would think about the past later when I was stronger.

I stood before the close doors of the Bar. It was a simple name for a simple establishment in the small Podunk town of Konoha. And Jiraiya felt that his imagination should only be stretched when writing the ever popular porn novels that he loved so much.

I didn't make any move to open the doors that would take me inside. Instead of stood gathering my flagging courage and waited for some miracle that would erase the last three years of my life. Anything, even a black hole that would keep me from having to face my grandfather and beg his forgiveness for my foolish stupidity. Gritting my teeth and trembling, I reached for the solid brass door handle, depressing the latch with my thumb, and pushed.

I stepped inside the dim interior of the deserted bar. It was mid-morning and several hours until the place opened to allow the populace of Konoha to come and drown their sorry lives in alcohol and the company of fellow misery. Even though the bar wasn't going to be open until later I knew that my grandfather would be there. It was where he wrote his novels, when he wasn't wandering around town spying on the young girls or flirting with the matrons who were more visually enhanced (prettier) than the rest.

I looked around and saw that the place hadn't changed a bit, just looked a little dustier than the last time I had seen it. I glanced at the bar where I had spent the better part of my after school hours helping serve drinks even though it was illegal but my Uncle paid me under the table and when the inspector had shown up I'd be shuffled out the back door until he was gone. I'd earned enough money to go to college…

I shifted my thought away from the more painful memories and focused on why I was there. I looked and saw that the office door was partially closed meaning that Jiraiya was inside working. I moved to the opening and peeked inside.

The large man was slumped over a manual type writer snicking away at a piece of paper in his rapid hunt and peck fashion, how he was able to put out the novels he did I'll never know. The thick white hair hung down his back and spiked up and out in odd directions but was pulled into a low pony tail to keep it out of the way while he worked. I heard him mutter under his breath as he used a pencil like object to erase part of what he had just typed then shifted the bar to retype something else.

It was such a familiar sight that I wanted to walk in like nothing had ever happened and drape myself over his shoulder like I had when I was younger. I closed my eyes at the sharp sting that developed then knocked lightly on the door, startling the man who swung around swearing.

"What the fuck do…N—Naruto?" Jiraiya's rant stuttered into a whispered word. He slowly got to his feet like he was feeling every one of his years but he didn't step forward.

I was sudden overcome with uncertainty. I didn't know how to begin or what to say. So I didn't say anything just looked down at my hands studying the bitten off finger nails and the cuticles that had grown because I no longer had any interest in their up keep, just like I had lost interest in looking good, wearing make-up, pretty clothes, and the rest of the things that I'd used to find necessary.

"I—I…" I stuttered to a halt as I felt arms come around me, pulling me into a chest that I'd found safe and loving. It broke the dam and I crumbled, sobbing. I felt my grandpa's large palm wrap around my head, tucking it under his chin and petting my hair.

"Oh, my little Naruto, please forgive me," he whispered into my hair. I could hear the tears in his voice and knew that everything that had happened had affected him as well an me.

"I'm so sorry, Grandpa."

Memories to painful to bear crashed over me.

_He is your husband, if anything you two need to work it out!_

_He hurts me, Grandpa!_

_Don't lie. It's ill becoming of a woman of your station._

Then another memory…

_Oh my God, Naruto! I didn't know, I…_

_Get out!_

_Naruto, please let me expla…_

_No, I might as well have died that night! And now, you're dead to me!_

I breathed in the familiar scent of Old Spice and pressed my face into the crook of his neck, wrapping my arms around him and holding on to him. I knew for the first time that I had come home and I felt some of the pain in my heart ease.

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**A/N: HAHAHAHA! You whould bow down before me! I've updated early. Okay, most of you know that when I'm on a roll I update quickly. When I'm excited and happy I write! Reviews help also. A good review leaves me with a smile on my lips and a song in my heart! That and I wrote another chapter so i'm still ahead!**

**I will begin to answer questions soon, so I hope that you will bear with me for a little while longer. I'm still setting up the story! Oh and guess who is coming next chapter?! Squee (is this even a word?)! Also lots of tomented Naruto and still more questions! And hot SEX!!!! Okay no sex, but I'll get there I promise that this will definitly be rated smexy! But I have to get through all of Naruto's issues first. I just can't have them hopping into bed because then it would make any sense now would it!**

**Loves, Hugs, and Kisses to all you smexy peoples!**

**ZEN (the ultra-wierd and wonderful because I've just written the first answer to the first question! Why Naruto isn't with Sasuke? and coming up Who is the Oto husband? Hope you didn't forget about him!)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Due to technical difficulties, everything I had written here has been lost and I don't feel like writing it back out.**

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"Okay, Naruto, let's move over to the weights."

Sakura stood and directed me to sit on a weight machine hooking my legs over and under the pads of the torture device that I hated with a passion. She moved behind me to secure the weights starting with five pounds and slowly working up to twenty.

"Alright, let's do a set of five to start."

I began to raise my legs so that they were stretched straight out in front of me. I gritted my teeth but breathed out a sigh of relief because I wasn't assaulted with the dull ache that nearly drove me to a padded white cell. But it would come, I had little doubt.

And it did. I was lucky to finish two sets without the grinding hurt before she changed the weight so that I would be lifting ten pounds. With the first set I could feel the ache begin and grow incrementally and with each lift my grip on the seat became tighter until Sakura set the last weight change into place. White knuckled I went to do the first lift only to have my left leg lock up and refuse to do its share of the work.

"Fuck!" I shouted as I forced the leg to lift along with the right while the right did all the work.

"You have to use both legs, Naruto," Sakura reprimanded.

"I'm trying!"

"But your not succeeding," came the calm reply.

"Bitch!"

Eye roll.

"Argh."

"That's better; keep it up, your doing so well!"

I was panting harshly as I lifted my legs for the last time. My hands were stiff as I released the seat and flexed them to make them work again and get the blood to flow back into the white digits.

Sakura crouched before me and ran her hands up my legs messaging them to relax the muscles so that they didn't tighten into hard knots. I pressed my lips to prevent the howl that threatened to slip past them not to mention that my hands went right back to where they had been so that I didn't punch to pink haired therapist.

"Okay, before we take a break lets get to the next set," she said standing a moving away.

I flipped over so that I was lying on my stomach with my ankles tucked under the pads again. Sakura adjusted the weights to a lower setting and we began the agony all over again.

Ten minutes later and the persecution was over. Sweat was pouring down my brow as I panted heavily, chin to chest. Agony was ripping up my left leg and I doubted that I could stand, but I tried, with teeth clenched and hands fisted at my side.

"Naruto, you need to rest and I have to rub that leg down before it turns into a rotten ball of muscle," Sakura said in her smooth no-nonsense tone of voice.

At her reply, I moved, okay, I limped, to the padded table and laid face down on it. Sakura dribbled some warm oil over the lower legs and began to work the muscles into a loose collection as I tried to hold back whimpers and groans of pain.

"Sa—Sakura," I stuttered.

"Hmm?"

"Jiraiya asked me to come back to the bar. I'm thinking about it, b—but…" I couldn't continue.

Sakura paused for a moment and I could feel her eyes drilling into the back of my head as she thought about how she should respond.

"Naruto…(sigh)…I think that it's a good idea," Sakura said continuing the message. "You need to get out into society, to face it…you know, the whole face your fears thing. Staying locked up in your house is just going to make it that much harder when you do go out."

I nodded. The logical part of my head agreed with her completely even though it was a small part, while the rest of me, and a larger part, argued that it didn't make a difference if I went out or not because no one cared. Ah, cryptic statements. Again the logical part of me wanted to argue but I'd had a lot of practice squashing that part flat. I really felt that there wasn't anyone in this small town that would really notice if I didn't ever venture out into the public, they wouldn't care, and I wasn't someone anyone missed. I had never done anything that was life changing, or significant to the world and therefore worth remembering. I could fade into oblivion and no one would notice.

"So are you going to try? Tonight?"

"I—I'm going to try."

"Good!"

Okay, I had just sealed my doom. Sakura would tell Kiba and they both would show up, along with whoever they dragged there. My three days were up and I was about to announce to the world that Uzumaki Naruto was back….broken, but back.

God Damn It!

I stood before the old black grill flipping burgers, a place that was usually occupied by Jiraiya. I'd begged him to let me slowly work into the bar area, which at this time of night was crowded. It seemed like the place was unusually packed, like everyone in the town had turned out for drinks and socializing with people they meet everyday. Perhaps they had sensed that something different was going to happen tonight and wanted to be here when it happened.

I concentrated on the mindless task of turning the meat, slapping condiments on buns, and checking the fry vats to see if the long slender potatoes were done. I was so tired of thinking and running things over in my mind that I gave myself over to the numbing, repetitive routine. Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles on one side of the bun; Mayo, ketchup, and/mustard on the other. Patty, cheese if needed, put together and add fries. Repeat as necessary.

I was so focused on the task that I didn't hear the commotion outside the doors to kitchen area and was startled when they opened to reveal the one person that I still wanted to avoid. Upon seeing him, my head fell to my chest and I stared at the hamburger.

"Jir--" the deep voice began only to cut itself off on not seeing the white haired, old man standing at the grill. "Sorry, do you know where Jiraiya is?"

"You should try his office," I replied quietly in a near whisper.

"Thanks."

I heard him take a step towards the office only to stop and the shuffle told me that he turned around again.

"Do I know you?"

I chose not to answer. Because how could I? I wanted to say that no, he didn't know me but at the same time it would be a lie.

"Hn." The grunt came after several seconds of silence and I took it to mean that he realized I wasn't going to answer. I listened to his quick steps as he left before giving into the need to breathe. My hands shook as I shifted the burger to the pick-up window, nearly upending the food onto the floor but somehow managing to keep it upright. It was the last one for the moment.

"Naruto?"

I turned back to the door way and saw Kiba standing there with a look of concern on his face. He took a couple of steps towards me then halted as I began to shake my head.

"I—I ca—can't do it, Kiba," I whispered. Unable to bear it anymore I bolt to the back door ready to make my escape only to have the flight blocked by a white, cotton clad chest and folded arms.

"You can't run away anymore, Naruto," Kiba said gently. "You have to stay. I won't say that I know how hard it's going to be on you because I have no idea. I don't know what you went through while you were away, but I will tell you that everyone here will be there for you. I know that I'll support you in anyway that I can, I just won't support you in running away."

He calmly set his hands on my shoulders and pulled-pushed me towards the small chair that was sitting next to the door and urged me into it before he crouched down in front of me taking my hands. I jerked them back unable to bear it.

"Naruto…" he sighed, then, "you have about one minute to prepare yourself because he is going to put two and two together and come with Naruto."

"Huh?" Confused I looked up into deep brown eyes that smiled warmly back at me.

"Sasuke. He's going to put the fact that Jiraiya is in his office and the blond working the grill together and come bursting through that door again any second now. So you need to prepare yourself and figure out what you're going to say to him, to tell him. The first question I'm sure is going to be where the fuck have you been? The next will probably be why the fuck didn't you come home or at least write?"

I blinked up at Kiba then my brain went into panic mode and I felt my head being shoved down between my legs. I was still staring at the floor when Kiba's prediction came true and Sasuke burst through the door.

"What the HELL?!"

Hmm, so Kiba wasn't nearly as smart as he wanted to pretend he was because the first question hadn't been any of the one's he'd said Sasuke would ask.

I jerked my head up only to have Kiba shove it back down between my legs when my breathing became erratic, again. It was kind of embarrassing to be staring at the floor when my best friend was towering over me in all his glaring-arm-folded glory. I probably would have been embarrassed if I wasn't more afraid of ending up laid out unconscious at his feet. My heart was pounding in my chest and I could feel the blood rushing to my head. My vision had begun to fade to grey at the edges, with spots floating in front of me.

"Kiba, let her go." His deep tenor filled my ears and then his polished black loafers appeared in my vision and then his knees. He'd crouched down in front of me. Warm hands took hold of my shoulders and pushed lightly so that I sat back in the chair.

I wanted to resist, protest, to do anything but sit there like a coward and avoid facing him by keeping my head lowered, but he wouldn't let me. Wanting to flinch away, I forced my body to remain still as a hand came up and forced my chin up so that I was left looking into deep ebony eyes. It was a little miracle for me that I didn't jerk away like I had with Kiba, demanding that he not touch me but it was only through sheer force of will that kept me still and silent.

I expected to see the usual pity reflecting back at me, because I knew what I looked like even if I refused to look into a mirror. I was hollow-eyed with straggly, short blond hair and too thin that even if I gained ten pounds I would only begin to approach starved refugee stage but all I saw was the warm stoicism that always seemed to look back at me from Sasuke.

"Naruto." It wasn't a question or a demand, it was just my name.

"Sasuke."

"Hn."

"What?"

"I want an explanation."

I blinked in confusion. He wanted an explanation? "For what?" I was holding my breath waiting for the next part of the play. Another hand raised and I wasn't able to control the movement of my body as I ducked away almost violently; the quick intake of breath made realized how badly I'd betrayed myself.

"What is this?" Sakura's feminine voice broke into the thick heavy silence that had fallen. "You two suddenly decide to tag team Naruto?"

The rush of shame that blasted through me pulled me to my feet and out the back door before anyone could move. The red jeep never looked so safe to my frazzled nerves and I was peeling out of the parking lot even as I saw my three friends standing at the back door.

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**A/N: Again due to technical blah, blah, blah. i said a lot of funny things but I'm being lazy so SORRY! beside you people don't read these things. You're greedy and all you want is the story! and if you do REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW PLEASE, I'm begging and pleading for comments! I want to be able to have a story that has 500 of those wonderful, lovely, sweet little reviews. But don't review if you don't mean it!**

**The fabulous and amazing ZEN (okay, just fabulous.) O.O (grr...you people never let me have my delusions) JUST ZEN, then.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: i was going to wait but I'm too excited from the awesome reviews that I got!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Too bad for you people, otherwise...**

**There is a Flashback for you people that whine because i confuse you!**

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**I was hiding. Again. I'd told myself I would be stronger. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't hid and be weak that I'd face my present. But there in lies the problem. My present and my past continue to mix and I can't bring myself to pull the memories out of the overstuffed box on my own, instead they keep overflowing, like a suitcase with too many clothes in it. Just when I think that I have everything safely tucked away something shifts and a sleeve hangs out.

Sasuke.

The boy that I'd loved with all my heart, my best friend. We'd been friends for years but in one moment all of that had ended. It was a stupid reason but I'd been so hurt that I couldn't begin to describe the devastation that I'd felt. But I should have seen it coming, I should have noticed the signs, then I could have prepared myself. I'd just thought that even that step we'd take together.

Too many if onlys, too many what ifs. Too many too lates.

_Looking at the letters of acceptance, I was sitting at the small computer desk trying to be smart for once. I was doing research on the schools that I'd gotten accepted into. There were a lot of promising schools with great options and I was trying to decide which one would be best for both Sasuke and I. Okay, I was being a little presumptuous but I just wanted to for once be more knowledgeable about something that the all-knowing Sasuke. My arrogance for once was going to net me some brownie points._

_The door opened and I looked up to see the raven headed boy enter and I was slightly annoyed because I hadn't finished._

"_Oi, Sasuke, you're here early."_

"_Dobe, it's nearly four in the afternoon," he said with a shake of his head._

_I blinked in surprise and looked up at the clock that hung on my wall. "Well, what do you know? It is." Well, hell. I guess I would just have to go with what I knew already. "Hey, let's decide what school we're going to go to!"_

"_I already know," Sasuke said in a low tone. "It's the same school that my father went to, the same one that my brother went to, the same school all the Uchiha's have gone to."_

"_Oh, which one?"_

_Again with the eye roll. "Harvard."_

_I just stared at him. There wasn't any way that I could go to Harvard even if I was the richest kid on the planet. My grades in school had been mostly C minuses with a couple of Cs thrown in. I was barely graduating. I hated the academics; Math, Science, and anything that you needed logic for. The one and only time that I'd ever received an A was in art and I wanted to go to a school where I could study it. _

_My heart was pounding in my chest as I studied the serious and bored expression on his face. For the past three weeks, he'd grown a little more distant from me and I'd tried to pass it off as graduation nerves, or stress from finals._

_I didn't know what to say. My chest was tight and my eyes burned but I was damned if I was going to cry in front of him. I wanted to say that it was alright and reassure him that I was fine, but I wasn't. I was dying inside._

"_Naruto?"_

"_Get out." No, that wasn't what I wanted to say…or was it. I turned back to the computer, turned my back on him._

"_I wanted to tell you but I—" _

"_I said, get out."_

"_Fine. I'll talk to you later."_

_I heard the door shut and let my head drop onto the desk in front of me. When that wasn't enough, I swept my hand across the desk tossing everything, including the monitor, onto the floor. The computer screen sparked when it hit the floor, the glass shattering. I wanted to scream but I at least held that inside of me allowing it to fester and grow._

"_Naruto?" My dad asked as his bright blond head that was almost a perfect match to mine poked his head inside the door. Seeing the mess on the floor, he stepped inside. "What happened?"_

"_Sasuke."_

"_Sasuke didn't make this mess."_

"_Dad!" My fists clenched at my sides and I turned to face him. I wanted to hit something but I knew that if I even went for him I'd be laid out on the floor or probably worse. "No, Sasuke didn't do this, but…" I couldn't speak anymore for the tears that had welled in my eyes and clogged my throat. I was hurt, so wounded that I didn't even know what to feel anymore._

_My dad's arms came around me and held tight until the storm broke and I sobbed into his shoulder._

"_He…I…Harvard…not with me." The sentences were broken and I didn't know how my father understood everything, but I guess he'd had lots of upset Naruto talk practice._

"_Ah, Sasuke's going to Harvard, and your feeling like you just lost your best friend."_

_I nodded into his shoulder._

"_And you're scared."_

_I nodded again._

"_You know that it's not going to be forever, and that all children have to grow up and move out of the nest. So this is just a part of that." His logic was flawless._

_Did we mention that logic wasn't my strongest point?_

_I drew away from him. "Thanks Dad. But I just want to be alone for now."_

"_Alright, but let me know if you need anything."_

"_Okay."_

_He left. _

_I picked up the mess then made a decision. But first things first, I needed a new monitor. Letting my dad know where I was going I left the house and made my way to the computer store that was three blocks from our house where I purchased a cheap monitor with some of the money that I'd been saving for college. I went back home and hooked it up then started surfing the internet for the schools that I had been accepted to that were as far from Harvard as possible. Ones that I could get into early, that had summer classes. I found one in California, in fact is was perfect. Located in San Francisco, it was as far from Cambridge as it could possibly be and still be in this country._

_I enrolled in the summer course program which would start a week after graduation. With that done I talked to my father again, who was less that thrilled with the choice, but he said it was my choice. Now, all I had to do was avoid Sasuke until graduation. _

_Which wasn't all that difficult for such a small school. I switched seats in the classes that we had together, arriving late and leaving as soon as the bell rang. I went home to eat for my lunches, and took lots of bathroom pit stops, so much so that the school nurse thought that I had a bladder infection._

_Then it was graduation. I was getting dressed when I heard the doorbell ring. Curiosity got the best of me and I poked my head out into the hallway to hear who it was._

"_Sasuke!" Minato exclaimed causing me to since and quickly pull my head back into my room but I left the door open so that I could hear._

"_Mr. Uzumaki," he stated. I'd never heard Sasuke call my dad that before and neither had my dad apparently._

"_Sasuke, it's Minato. You start calling me Mr. anything and I will wring your neck." The stern tone of his voice caused even me to wince. "You're here to talk to Naruto? It's about time because that girl is going to drive me insane if you two don't fix things."_

_I heard foot steps in the hall way and I too several steps away from the door. It opened to reveal Sasuke who stood in the threshold and crossed his arms._

"_Naruto."_

"_Sasuke."_

"_Hn."_

"_What do you want?" I raised my chin in defiance at the look that he gave me with that question._

"_Explain."_

"_No."_

_Eyes rolled and he took a step into my room._

"_I didn't invite you in."_

_Another step and my eyes widened._

"_T—Teme…"_

"_You've been avoiding me and I've just about had enough."_

"_Why? You are going to Cambridge to that prissy school and I am going to the Academy of Art University. It's been a good run, but its time to have separate lives." Okay, I was bluffing with all my worth because separate lives was just what I didn't want._

"_The Academy of Art…No."_

"_What the hell do you mean no?"_

"_You can go to the New England Institute of Art."_

_Okay, telling me what I was and wasn't going to do was just pushing the limit way too far. True that Sasuke had been telling me what to do for most of our lives but I just wasn't in the mood to take orders._

"_I won't. I've already enrolled for the summer courses and they start next week, my tuitions been paid and I'm going."_

_I could see his jaw clench and his shoulders lift then fall with the breath that he'd taken, as if he needed it to keep from exploding. I'd seen that happen only once before and prepared myself for the manipulative and conniving guy to start throwing logic and words that I had no idea what they meant around._

"_Fine, but as soon as classes are over you will transfer." For a moment I was stunned, no only didn't he try to manipulate me with huge words, he'd given up. He'd turned to leave and I almost let him. I should have let him walk away._

"_Why? Why does it mean so much to you that I go to the New England Institute of Art?"_

_Sasuke paused but remained with his back to me. "Hn." And he left._

_It was a typical Sasuke response but this time it didn't work. I didn't give in to his jerky, bastard self. If anything the response made it possible for me to finish getting dressed, seal the envelope that held the check for my tuition, and drop it in the box on the corner as we drove to graduation._

_The ceremony was the longest that I'd been through as it dragged by. I was seated next to Sasuke because someone had decided that we should sit alphabetically. It reminded me of the first day of sixth grade when we were twelve and the teacher wanted all the students to sit according to where their last name fell which was how we had met._

_Now it was just plan annoying the hell out of me and I began to fidget. Sasuke threw me a sit-still-or-else look that I just rolled my eyes at and continued to shift restlessly. Finally it was time for Sasuke to make his speech as Valedictorian, a honor that he'd received only because Shikamaru Nara had been to lazy to make the extra hundredth of a point that would have put him ahead of Sasuke._

"_Parent, Teachers, Students, Friends…"_

_I tuned him out and concentrated on the faces that Kiba was making in Ino's direction. I nearly laughed out loud at the suggestive look that he gave her, his eyebrows wriggling up and down. Ino shot him a cold look then turned to Chouji who was clutching a bag of chips and munching away happily on them. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear to which he nodded then turned to look at me._

"_Ino is throwing a graduation party at her parent's house. They're leaving right after graduation and Ino has the house to herself." It was an open invitation and was meant to be passed on which I did. Okay, how the hell did Ino manage to get seated next to Chouji didn't she know that the seating was alphabetical? I shrugged and passed the message on to Shikamaru. _

_Finally the graduation and I was clutching my diploma (alright it wasn't a diploma, just the cover for it because the school had yet to process the finale grades and make out the diplomas, which we would receive in the mail in six weeks). My dad was hugging me and telling me how proud he was of me then he pulled out the disposable camera that he had bought for this occasion and began to take picture, demanding all my friends to pose with me._

_I finally called a halt to the photos and told him that Ino was having a party at her house and we really needed to get going. He said okay with the usual lecture of being responsible. I waved to him and jumped into the car with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji._

"_Hey, aren't you going to the part with Duck Butt?" Kiba asked in surprise as seeing my face in the rear view mirror._

"_Are you telling me that you won't give me a ride?" I asked sweetly ignoring the rest of the question._

"_No, but you normally go with Uchiha."_

"_Well, his car is full so I'm with you."_

_Shikamaru threw me a knowing look that told me he knew that I lied but he didn't say anything. Kiba just shrugged then pulled out of the parking lot. Ten minutes later we were at Ino's place and all the blood had left my face and my internal organs had switched positions several times. Kiba drove like a mad man, way too fast, and with blatant disregard to the people in the car with him and those on the streets. I'd never been so happy to be anywhere but in Kiba's car. We could have driven to hell and I would still have been happy to be there if I could get out of the death trap._

_I fell to the ground and gave thanks nearly kissing it if it wasn't for the fact that a foot from my face was a pile of dog feces. I quickly stood up and looked down to make sure that I hadn't knelt in a pile without knowing it. I'd forgotten that Ino had dogs, which is probably why she and Kiba got along so well, they both adored the slobbery animals._

_I bounced into the house greeting everyone I saw by name. It was a small school after all, only about 196 students from Kindergarten to Twelfth. I hugged Sakura who was setting out platters of meats and cheeses then grabbed Ino into a warm embrace which nearly ended up with being doused in fruit punch. Tenten and Neji, who'd graduated the previous years along with Lee were there also and I just had to hug them._

_I was full of chipper smiles and lots of cuddles throughout the whole night. I was even willing to forgive Sasuke for his high handedness until three hours later._

_Entering the hallway that lead to Ino's room, a place that I'd been to over a hundred time, I was full of punch and looking for the bathroom. The door was just in front of me when voices stopped me. I pressed my ear against the door hearing Sasuke's low tones, my curiosity getting the better of me. God, I can be such a cat._

"_I'm sorry, Sasuke," it was a female voice that I'd never heard before. "I didn't know what to do? You have to help!" The voice was pleading and urgent at the same time and I stilled the breath so that I could hear better._

"_What do you want me to do about it?"_

"_For gods sake! I—I don't know!"_

"_Then why are you here?"_

"_I'm pregnant, Sasuke!"_

_I jerked away from the door. I stared at the portal feeling my stomach drop and my heart freeze. I blinked rapidly and tried to relearn to breathe normally. I'd completely forgot what I'd come her for as I turned and fled, out the door and up the street towards my own home._

_I don't know how I made it home but I did and my dad was asleep, thank god. I went to my room and packed everything that I could fit into a suitcase, wrote a note explaining that I had to leave, I was going to California to school, and that I would explain things when I called after getting an apartment. I emptied all my hiding spots of money which was a grand total of three hundred four dollars and sixty-one cents and went out the window. I walked through the night to the bank first to get an extra six hundred dollars (which was all the machine would allow me to withdraw) then on to the bus station. I purchased a ticket on the next bus out which would take me to the Greyhound Station where I would get a ticket to California._

_

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_**A/N: Well I hope that answered one of your questions! Please leave a review. and I'm sorry if I made any grammar, spelling errors, I didn't proof this chapter!**

**ZEN  
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	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Aw, someone came too close to guessing so in Congratulations I'm posting this early, without having the seventh chapter complete! So, everyone, you get to thank MoonPrincess623 for the early update!**

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I made it into the house but I don't know how I'd gotten there and that was somewhat scary for me. I don't remember anything after leaving the parking lot other than the over whelming memories. Faded pictures that pulled me in and made me hurt, because of the mistakes that were made.

I dragged myself out of the foggy images and over to the sofa, dropping into it and pulling the fleece blanket over me to try and ward off my demons and conserve what little heat that I was still feeling. I ignored the light tapping on the door; really I didn't even hear it until it became louder and more insistent. Raising my eyes to look at the stained glass panels that separated me from whoever was on the other side, I stood.

I made sure that the dead bolt was in place before inching the door open to meet obsidian chips that seemed to glow with and inner fire. Stars shone in the deep depths of those eyes pulling me into them and tempting me to loose myself in the warm, comforting darkness.

"Naruto." His deep voice like black velvet bed sheets that made me want to roll around and pet them, him. "May I come in?"

"No." I closed the crack and dropped my head onto the golden wood and from the soft thump I wondered if he had done the same. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he trying to understand why I was rejecting him? Was he wondering what had happened? Had Kiba told him that I'd fainted from fear when he'd found out that I was in town? Did Sakura tell him about the scars that ran up and down my body and that I was in physical therapy, barely able to leg press twenty pounds without crying? Why hadn't I seen pity in his eyes.

"Why, Naruto?"

I shook and backed away from the door hearing his voice on the other side. I couldn't answer his question, not right now.

"Go home, Sasuke," I said loud enough that he could hear me through the door. Then whispered, "Please," so that he couldn't discern the doubt, fear, and regret in my voice.

His footsteps retreated off of the porch and a few minutes later I heard his car drive away. My knees collapsed and I ended up a heap on the floor, sobbing my heart out…something that I hadn't done since that night I found out that Sasuke was going to be a father.

Even as I cried for everything that I had lost, question were raised in my head. Ones like: Where was his wife? His child? Did he marry her? Was he happy? And millions of others like that and each one more devastating than the last.

Finally the tears were dried up and I dragged myself through the rooms to my bedroom and dropped onto the high King bed that occupied most of the space in the room. I pulled a nightshirt and lounge pants that doubled for pajamas from wardrobe that had been pushed into the far corner of the room next to large window that had the blinds pulled against the night. I was exhausted and I knew that try as I might, tonight, I wasn't going to succeed in staying awake, so I was going to make one last effort to become a normal sleeping person.

I rested in between the cool sheets waiting for sleep to overtake me.

_On hands and knees I ran the scrub brush across the floor, it was the third time and I was nearly finished. Next I would rub wax into the tiles to make the white quartzite gleam deeply. After that I had to finish the laundry, remake the bed, do the dishes, make supper, and get dressed in semi formal clothes._

_A wave of dizziness washed through me making me pause in the tedious routine until it subsided. I'd taken a few aspirin earlier to stave off the fever because I had too much to do today and I couldn't afford to be sick. The last time I had fallen ill and had induldged in it, I'd been dragged from the bed and dowsed in a tub full of ice water. When that hadn't been enough to satisfy _him _I'd been hauled outside and left, my husband locking the door and making me sleep where I'd been tossed in a shivering heap._

_Determined to not have that happen again, I pushed harder on the brush only to have two black shoes appear in my vision. The air seized in my lungs and I stopped scrubbing, sitting back on my lower legs but kept my head bowed._

"_It's six, Naruto, why isn't this finished and dinner on the table?" The cold voice demanded._

_My hands began to tremble as I glanced up into icy brown eyes. "I-I'm s-s-s-orry, S-Sakon. I-I'll start dinner now."_

"_For fuck's sake, woman! I work all day putting up with poorly educated people anly to come home, hoping to have a warm meal waiting and I find my wife has barely done anything. I slave away at a job I hate just to give you everything your little heart desires and all I ask is for a little common fucking courtesy like having dinner on time!" A hand fisted in my hair pulling me to my feet roughly._

_Nearly crying out at the sudden pain, I swallowed it back only to be pulled along my the long locks. I blinked back tears at my stinging scalp and stumbled clumsily after my husband as he led me to the front of the house. The dizziness now swamping me and causing nausea to roll through my stomach._

"_Sakon, tsk, let your wife go." A high hissing tenor rang out sending shivers of dread to race down my spine._

_My head rose to survey the room. In a corner leaning against the olive painted wall was a grey haired man wearing a short sleeved button up shirt and stylish black slacks. His arms folded across his chest and a smirk playing about his thin lips. Round glasses glinted in the light so that I couldn't see the eyes behind them, but I didn't have to see to know that the dead orbs wouldn't be reflecting his amusement. Standing next to him with a snarling glare was a tall red head. A black bandana was wrapped around her head in order to keep her carroty locks from falling into her face from falling into her face. She was dressed in a navy business suit and her brown eyes were showing the anger that influenced her life. The last person in the room I had been saving for last and terror coursed through me as I met jaundiced colored eyes with vertically slit pupils._

My eyes shot open and I abruptly sat up, a gurgling scream escaping my lips before I was able to fully suppress it. Swiping a hand over my face to dispel the linger effect of the dream, I pushed the covers off and swung my feet to the floor. I breathed deeply willing my heart to calm.

Suddenly I felt the familiar burning sensation in my eyes and had to blink rapidly as they began to water. It didn't help. I ended up sliding off the bed and huddling in a heap on the floor, sobbing, as I felt my world turn upside down once more. Once my tears were used up and the world had righted itself again, at least for now, I had to do something to take my mind off the past. So I lost myself in the familiar and tedious task of cleaning, scrubbing, washing, sweeping, and dusting every surface in the house.

Once everything was completed, I looked around a seemed, for the first time, to notice how impersonal the space was. There weren't any pictures on the wall, there weren't any plants that seemed to make the place feel alive, and there weren't any precious mementos scattered around to remind me a better times.

It was nearly noon, I found as I looked to the clock on the wall. I'd been cleaning for nearly six hours and I thought that Jiraiya should be up by now so I called.

"Yo," came the mumbled reply to my ears.

"Grandpa? I'm sorry if I woke you."

"No, not at all."

"Um… do you have any…" my voice trailed off as I realized one more thing about my life.

"Do I have any…?" Jiraiya questioned sounding more awake and alert.

"Pictures of Mom and Dad?"

There was silence at the other end of the line.

God! I was pathetic, all of those things had eventually been taken from me and I felt the deep gnawing shame in my gut. I waited, for what I wasn't sure. Alright that was a lie. I was waiting for the censure, for the pity, the blame for my life to come through in the next few sentences.

"Yeah, I do. Would you like to come by and pick some out."

It was my turn to be silent.

_For fuck's sake will you quit crying, you weak little bitch!_ I reprimanded myself but the voice wasn't mine. The tears leaking from my eyes dried up as I heard my husband's voice in my head. Then the dawning realization that every time I was self-deprecating it was always in _his_ voice. That wasn't part of my personality. I blinked.

"Yes, yes, Grandpa, if you don't mind. I would like to come by. Would now be okay?"

"Absolutely." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I hung up and began to analyze what I had just discovered. Anytime, I put myself down it was Sakon's voice that I heard in my head. I frowned and wondered when I'd picked up that part of his personality. I needed to write this down. I searched the whole house but couldn't find any notebooks.

"For fuc…" I broke off in mid sentence. "No, I won't use that expression anymore. It was his and I am going to change!"

On the way to Jiraiya's I stopped at the small convenience store and picked up a couple of notebooks and pens. I saw a rough wood framed picture displayed on the wall and asked the clerk about it. She informed me that a local guy took the pictures then blew the photos up and framed them.

"Really? Who's the guy?"

"Um…I think that his name is Nara?" the young woman said with a shrug.

I raised an eyebrow at the girl's obvious uncaring about the world around her. "Shikamaru Nara?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

"Thanks."

I turned back to the photo and studied it from an artist's perspective. The position of the photographer had to have him lying under the flower gazing up at it and the sky beyond. Yeah, I could totally see Shikamaru taking this picture. It was definitely something that only he would have noticed. The flower, a daisy if she wasn't mistaken, was just a dark shadow against the back drop of a sky that was about to unleash its fury, if the lightening that had been captured was anything to go by. It spoke volumes to me. A lone flower standing before the something that had the brutal power to destroy it, and yet I knew that even after the raging storm passed, the flower was still there.

"How much?" I asked the clerk who gave me a confused look. I gestured to the picture. "How much for the picture?"

"Oh, that one isn't for sale. I think that the guy only put it here for display purposes only, so you'd have to ask him."

Once I paid for my purchases, I wrote a note in one notebook to call Shikamaru and get a copy of the picture from him. For some reason, after seeing the flower, I just had to have it. If I failed in that mission, it felt like I would fail in being able to change myself.

Pulling up in front of Jiraiya's place, I looked the small house over. There was a fresh coat of paint on the place but other than that it still looked the same as when I'd been a little girl playing Cowboys and Indians with Kiba, Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura. There was the large pine tree where I'd gotten into a fight with Kiba over which one of us was going to be the Cowboy, I'd won of course, he'd given up after I'd bitten his leg after he'd sat on me. Then there was the shed out back where the yard equipment was kept, the one that I'd fallen off of trying to tackle Sasuke as he'd snuck around it with a stick as a make believe bow in search of me. I guess he'd never expected me to have climbed on top of the thing, but then I didn't expect to break my arm when I'd missed.

As soon as the car door was shut, Jiraiya stuck he head out the door. For an old man he still had every strand of hair and it hung down his back in a long pony tail. Many people had mistaken him for an old hippy, who hadn't grown out of that phase, of course those same people had never seen the man take on a much younger man who was drunk off his ass and dying to prove how invincible he was. If I didn't know better, and I probably didn't, I would swear that the man was a former ninja the way he could drop kick a fully grown adult male.

I offered up a small smile as he grinned at me and waved me inside.

The inside of the house was warm and cozy from years of living. Though the carpet was a puke green shag that needed to be updated, the furniture was deep, suede leather that looked so comfortable that I wanted to curl up on it with a warm blanket. There wasn't a TV because I knew that Jiraiya preferred to write and when he wasn't do that he was tending his business. I was quite surprised to see an up-to-date computer sitting idle on a large desk in the corner of the room. There was a lamp next to the couch and a couple to end tables that completed the set. The walls seemed to be covered in pictures. They dated back to old black and white pictures from his childhood up to the brightly colored ones showing me, in high school, being a ham with Sakura and Kiba, while Sasuke stood or sat with arms folded and a pained smile on his lips.

"You were never without one of them," Jiraiya commented when I stopped in front of the last picture that had been taken. It was the graduation photo with everyone in it. Ten people laughing, and me at the front with my arm slung around Sakura's shoulder my fingers behind her head in bunny ears. My eyes were draw to the boy on my other side, Sasuke, his arms folded again but a small smile lit his lips and eyes didn't show a hint of irritation or annoyance. It was just hours before my world came apart at the seams.

I reverently took the photo down from the wall and looked to Jiraiya for permission. He nodded.

"Any thing I have is yours, you know that," he said.

"Oh, I can't--" I was cut off by the look he gave me as he began to randomly select photos from his collection.

"If I need, I can get copies," he muttered angrily.

Pretty soon, a pile had formed and we took a break, drinking coffee at the small table that was situated in a nook in the kitchen, and over looked the back yard. I sipped at the bitter brew and relished the slightly sugared drink.

"You seem different," Jiraiya commented studying me with his head tilted to the side slightly.

"I feel different, today," I began. "When we were talking on the phone, I made some discoveries about myself. Some of them weren't pretty."

"Like what, if I may ask?"

I tipped my head down and looked at my lap only to frown, another habit that I needed to break. I looked up into blue eyes that were similar to mine. "Well, whenever I put myself down, the voice I hear in my head is Sakon's."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "You put yourself down? When did you start doing that? I've never known you to ever do that even at your lowest point."

"I don't know when I started doing it but, you know, I'm going to try and not do it anymore. Firstly, I need to do it for myself, and secondly, I just don't want to hear his voice any more." I'd grown more confident in just a few hours, just from making this decision.

"What else?" I could hear the approval in his tone and the brilliant look that he gave me.

"I also want…no, I need to make my new house a home, which is why I want the pictures. I'm also going to call Shikamaru and try and talk him out of that photo that he has hung up at the store, the one with the flower."

"Well, good luck there. I've hear that someone offered him nearly ten thousand dollars for that picture and he turned them down flat."

"Wow, really? It must mean a lot to him then."

"I don't know. I asked him about it and he said that the guy just wasn't the right person for the picture. So maybe you have a chance."

"I'm hoping so." Even with the price being that high I could afford it.

That thought brought another to the fore front. I needed to get a bank account set up here. And along with that thought came several others. I needed to sell the other house and the cars, furniture, and everything that I'd left behind.

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**A/N: OOOooo, semi cliffy because we still haven't even talked with Sasuke yet, again! And a call to an old friend, wonder how that will turn out...really, I am because seriously I haven't even started on the next chapter. I've got a lot to do and i have to go back to work tomorrow! EEKK!**

**Thanks, and Please, please please leave a review so that I have some inspriation going for me!**

**ZEN, the desperate and pleading!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I have to apologize. I have a rather noticeable flaw. I switch persons. No, I don't have multiple personality syndrome, well at least i don't think that I do. but I have been know to switch from first person to third person in this story, and possibly others as well. If at any point I have done so please, please, please, let me know so that i can fix it. Grrr...how annoying. Alright, now this chapter was a bitch to write and it didn't go the way that I expected it to. I tried to proofread as I went but i'm sure that there are flaws somewhere, but please don't mind them too much.**

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto!!!! I just bought him off a guy that bought him off a girl that had sex with Masashi-sensei...WHAT?! You're telling me that it was a scam...I don't own Naruto! : #&* I'm sorry eveyone *cries* I don't own Naruto, I don't make money off of him...I was lied too!**

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As I left Jiraiya's with an arm load of pictures, some framed and others not, I looked up at the flash of sun being reflected. A large shiny red jacked-up Chevy pickup was parked across the street and leaning against it with arms folded was…

Sasuke.

I ignored the ebony haired, pale man in favor of running loving eyes over the beast that he was with. I'd always loved flashy cars and trucks and Sasuke knew it. Just seeing the crimson monster made my hands itch to run over the paint and my mouth drool. Swallowing hard I ignored the impulse to run over to the truck and coo at it while trying to hug the very warrantee out of it. I wondered what game Sasuke was playing at by bringing out the devilishly big guns, so to speak.

I jerked my eyes away from the beauty of the man and the truck to walk sedately to my older, less flashy jeep. Dumping the pictures in the passenger seat, I walked around and climbed into the driver's. With gritted teeth I pulled out of the driveway, glanced in the rear view mirror to see the red truck following me. Sasuke followed me to the post office, the gas station, and then in circles because I wanted to know just how serious his stalking was going to go. Then he followed me home but never once did he approach me, try to talk to me, he just stood by the truck and waited for me.

I wanted to slam the door when I entered the house but I quietly closed it then locked the portal. Peeked out the window to see the truck reverse and leave, then sank to the carpet willing my pulse back to normal and my breathing to slow. From the first moment that I'd seen him across the street, my heart had leaped out of the starting gates and ran a race worthy of a champion thoroughbred and my lungs had tried to keep up. Now, I was light headed, partly from not eating and partly from relief that Sasuke hadn't insisted that they talk.

RING!

I jumped as my cell phone went off, playing a normal phone ring. I fumbled in my pocket for the god awful contraption that everyone thought was the miracle to end all miracles. I just thought that it was another leash that people tied themselves down to, at least with old phones you could get away from them and people believed you when you told them that you were out and couldn't answer the phone.

"He—Hello?"

"Naruto?" a male voice asked from the other side.

"Y—Yes."

"Geez, you're beginning to sound like Hinata. Troublesome."

That last bit told me exactly who was calling and I offered the room a small smile. "Shikamaru?"

"Who else would it be? That girl at the store told me that a weird blond chick was interested in my picture and you're the only weird blond that I knew. So I called Sasuke, who told me to contact Sakura by the way, to ask if you were back and I got your number."

I held the phone away to look down at the empty screen. That just had to be the longest string of words that I had ever heard Shikamaru put together. "Wow, you're full of conversation today."

I could just picture the man rolling his eyes as he muttered, "troublesome."

"Yeah, I was interested. I was wondering if you would let me buy a copy of the photo? I—I could have it framed myself, I…"

"Naruto, I tell you what. I'll bring the picture by this afternoon, it's about time it found the right home."

"How muc--?" I was cut off as Shikamaru hung up. "Troublesome."

I looked around the room to see if anything needed tidying or straightening and found the room looked orderly. Too orderly. There was no TV with shelves full of movies or games that needed to be put away. The computer that sat on the desk didn't even need to be dusted because I had gone through the whole house like a mad woman cleaning everything.

I looked down and spotted my shoes on my feet. Toeing them off, I picked them up and went to the door. Holding them at eye level and out about an arms length I deliberately dropped them and left them where they landed, turned my back and went through the house messing up the fleece blanket that hung off the back of the couch. I made my way into the kitchen where I opened the cupboards and began to rearrange them so that they didn't look like grocery store isles with labels facing forward like little soldiers. I took a cup out of the cupboard, poured milk into it, drank it, and left it sitting next to the sink.

Then I took out a hammer and some picture hanging kits and went back to the living room where I began to hang pictures in random groupings and in random order, not once using a measuring tape or a level. I'd been at it for about ten minutes when I heard a knock on my door.

I jerked slightly at the unfamiliar sound. I tried to think of the last time that anyone had come to visit me and couldn't. Another wave of loneliness and despair swept through me and I had to shake it off. Setting down the hammer I went to the door and opened it.

In front of me was a large square with a spiky pony tail sticking up over the top of it and I blinked rapidly at the sight.

"Are you just going to stand there blocking the doorway, or are you going to let me in because this thing is getting heavier by the second," a lazy voice spoke from behind the square.

"Oh, sorry," I muttered as I stood back and allowed Shikamaru to come through the door, I went to close it only to have a hand shoot out and hold the door open.

"Hi, Naruto!" I was immediately embraced by a tall blond who's hair was pulled up into four pigtails. I was startled by the sudden hug and pulled away sharply to find Temari grinning at me.

"Temari?"

"Yep, and Ino, Kiba, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Gaara, Hinata, Shino, Chouji, and Konkuro will be here in…" a loud blaring horn was heard as a white sports coup, a dual cab F-150 truck, a couple more sedans, and Sasuke's red truck pulled into the driveway.

Wide eyed and panicking, I turned and nearly ran into Shikamaru's chest.

"I—I—I ca—can't," I stuttered heavily beginning to sound like Hinata when she was younger.

Shikamaru caught my shoulders before I could dart to the back of the house and lock myself into my room.

"Whoa, hold on," he said in reasonable tones. His genius at work voice, Chouji had always called it. He glanced up at Temari with a nod then lead me into the kitchen where he began to look in the cupboards.

"Shikamaru, what are you looking for?" I asked sudden distracted from my fears as the man continued to search through the cupboards.

"Coffee," he muttered. "If I'm staying here I'm going to need some coffee to stay awake."

"It's in the freezer and why did you pull me in here?"

He muttered under his breath something about weird places to stick shit, pulled the can from the freezer, then turned to me.

"Well, from what I've heard from Sakura, Kiba and Sasuke, you've just gotten out of the hospital and an abusive relationship."

My heart stuttered to a halt in my chest before giving a painful lurch only to settle into a racing rhythm. It was the beginnings of a conversation that I didn't want, nor was I ready to, talk about.

"I think Kiba, Sakura, and Sasuke need to keep their fucking mouths shut," I mumbled in an undertone.

"Eh?" Shikamaru asked as he spooned out teaspoons of coffee into the filter of the coffee maker.

"Nothing," I groused out as I began looking for an escape. I heard the thud of feet on the porch and the merry sound of people entering my house. I knew that it was irrational to feel angry when just moments before I was consumed by loneliness. People were invading my sanctuary and I was growing uncomfortable by the minute.

"Well, anyways," Shikamaru continued as he put the lid on the can again and shoved it back into the freezer, "I thought that since you were back in town avoiding everyone, or perhaps you were just taking you own sweet time, well, I thought that it was a good idea for you to jump head first into the water, so to speak, so that you can get used to having people around again faster."

I blinked with confusion at the string of words that he had just blurted out. "What?"

"Okay…troublesome…you know when you go into the lake that its cold and so you just inch your way into deeper water trying to get used to the coldness little by little?"

"Uh…yeah."

"And when you finally decide to just go for it and you dive in head first, and first you get that shocking feeling, but then after a few minutes you don't feel the coldness of the lake?"

"Yeah," I replied, wondering what he was building up to.

"Well, I'm not waiting for you to decide when you want to dive in head first. I'm tossing you in now," he finished with a small grin at me. "We, Temari and I, invited everyone over to have a Welcome Home Naruto party."

"Wh—What?!" I nearly screeched.

"Welcome Home! Naruto!" Shikamaru said then pulled me into the other room where everyone had gathered.

I was hiding again, I hated to admit it, but there it was. I was out on the back deck having slipped out of the party during a run of chaos, which had ensued when Lee and Kiba had gotten into to it out of the front porch over how to properly grill a steak on the barbeque.

When Shikamaru had shoved me into the room full of people, I initially greeted everyone and tried to answer questions about where I'd been, what I'd been doing, and that sort of thing. Then Sakura, Kiba, and Shikamaru had guided the awkward questions into more neutral ground by talking about themselves and what their plans were for the coming up weekend.

As the part progressed, others began to show up. My father's adopted brother, Kakashi, had made an appearance with his life partner, Iruka. Jiriaya had closed the bar for the night and come over when he heard about the party. And others from the town that I'd known most of my life, either from school, or just from being raised in the community.

I breathed in the night air and was grateful for the few minutes of peace, until I felt my cell, which I had pocketed in my front pants pocket give a vibration. I'd turned the ringer to vibrate when I had hung up after Shikamaru called. Now I pulled it from my pants flipped it open and saw an unfamiliar number telling me that it had sent a text message.

Pushing the button to accept the message, I gasped.

_Hiding?—sasuke_

I stared at the message for several minutes as I tried to regain control of my emotions then…

_No, what would I be hiding from?—naruto_

I waited all of a half a minute…

_Me.—sasuke_

I tried to think of a response and jumped with the phone vibrated in my hand again.

_I'm still waiting for an explanation. Why did you leave?--sasuke_

I didn't have an answer for him that would explain my actions well enough to him. It had taken me a good long while to understand why I'd been so upset, and to come to the conclusion that I had handled the whole thing miserably. If I'd been less stubborn, less dramatic, less of a dobe, then my future may have turned out differently.

I decided to take Shikamaru's plunge.

_How are the wife and kids?--naruto_

I didn't get a response for several minutes.

_Wife? Kids? What are you talking about? I've never been married nor do I have any offspring.--sasuke_

Frowning at the message, I wondered if people just thought that they could get away with lying to me and why they thought that they could. I may be blond but I wasn't by any means stupid and I was no longer naïve.

_Ino's graduation party a girl told you that she was pregnant with your child—naruto_

I pressed the send button and almost instantly wanted it back. Why had I just said that?

"Is that what made you run away?"

I jumped at the deep voice that came from my left. I jerked around and saw a shadow detach itself from the wall and step out into the moonlight. I hadn't seen him standing there when I came out and now I wondered if he'd been there the whole time.

"We-were y-you standing there this whole time?"

"Che," he grunted then took another step forward but stopped as he saw that I had tensed up ready to run. "Yes. Now answer the question? Was that the reason that you up and left that night without an explanation or a goodbye, nice to have known you?"

I heard the anger in his voice and shrunk away. Feeling myself do so, I clenched my hands into fists and squared my shoulders.

_This is Sasuke,_ I told my shrinking form. _Sasuke Uchiha who protected me from the school bullies. Sasuke Uchiha who had place himself in harms way so that I wouldn't get hurt. The person that you used to trust more than anyone._

Perhaps that had been the whole problem to begin with. I had trusted Sasuke with all my heart and that night that trust had been shattered.

I nodded in answer to his question, "partly."

"Partly? What was the other part?"

I wanted to shake my head and tell him that it wasn't important but… "I didn't want to telling me what to do and blindly expecting me to follow your lead. I'm not a dog and I—I could make my own decisions." I bowed my head and waited for the reprimand that I knew was coming. I could even hear it in my head. He would tell me that I was a dobe and that making my own decisions is what got me into my current state to begin with.

Silence greeted me and I still waited.

"I'm not married, I don't have any kids and that girl was pregnant by someone else," Sasuke sighed stepping over to the railing and looking out at the night. "Her name was Karin. I knew her because her parents were friends with my parents. She'd gotten pregnant by a boy named Suigetsu and was scared to tell her parents. Suigetsu wasn't…isn't…he wasn't parental approved. Her parents were expecting me to step up to the plate and do my duty as the son of Fugaku Uchiha and date their daughter. My dad had been trying to persuade me to do so for quite a while and I refused."

"Why?" I whispered.

"See at the time there was this little blond girl that had been following me around for…well, since before I can remember. She was a cute little thing, and stubborn as all get out, not to mention annoyingly loud and happy. And for the life of me, I couldn't see myself with anyone else."

_God Damn It!_ I thought as I felt my eyes fill with tears and heartbreak. "What happened to her?"

"She disappeared. Her father wouldn't give me the time of day anymore let alone a way to contact her. And after that I don't know what happened to her. I have wished more that anything these past three years for some bit of news from her. I want more than anything to have my…"

"It's too late." I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. More pain than I had ever thought possible was beginning to course through me. It was even more debilitating than being beaten nearly to death. I wanted more than anything to go back to that person he had described but she was lost.

I turned away from him and did the only thing that I could think of to do. I walked away, again.

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**A/N: Please don't kill me! Kill Naruto, she made me do it! I swear...*looks at man with slicked back hair, shifty eyes, and black suit* Oh, there's some beach front property for sell in Kansas and all it will cost me is $1000!!!! I'll take it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Darn it! I have to do this again because it logged me out, again! Thanks to all the reviewers and to those that I can't reply to, you have my undying (zombie?) gratitude.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto won't negotiate and I even offered him a dollar, a whole dollar!**

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_Tiny, pink petals were falling all around me looking like flakes of snow. I wanted to open my mouth and catch one of them on my tongue to see if it tasted like cotton candy. Oh, I'd been told that they wouldn't but for some reason the petals just looked so tasty. _

Well, maybe once wouldn't hurt.

_My small mouth opened and I waited for one of the slowly dropping petals to land, but when it got close enough the breeze lifted it back into the air and away from my wide open lips. Frowning, I stuck my tongue out to see if I could capture one that way._

"_Dobe."_

_Frowning at the familiar voice I turned towards it but there wasn't anyone there._

"_Sasu?" I called using my pet name for him._

_The landscape seemed to be fading away, and suddenly I was in my old home. The floors were covered with a sticky, honey like substance. I saw a huge clock hung over the table that was counting down the second until my husband got home. My heart stuttered then leaped into overdrive trying to gallop out of my chest. I turned to find the sink and a towel to clean up the mess only to find that there wasn't a sink so I grabbed the large white towel that was folded neatly on the counter and dropped to my knees scrubbing furiously at the mess. _

_It was an impossible task as the towel kept sticking in place and refusing to budge. I yanked it up only to have it rip into pieces then the pieces turned into dark black feathers then into dirt which littered every surface of the kitchen that I was kneeling in._

_I heard the slow creak of the front door opening and I knew then that everything was finished, I was finished. He was home._

"_Dobe?" Again, Sasuke's voice rang out and I leaped to my feet running to greet him._

_Rounding the corner, I smiled brightly at the pale form with the raven's wing hair-do. I flung myself into his arms feeling them wrap tightly around me. _

"_Sasuke!"_

"_So, dobe, what did you do today?"_

"_Oh, not much. I cleaned the house, watered the flowers in the garden, and tried to catch cherry blossom petals on my tongue!"_

_He pulled me deeper into the house and towards the kitchen, and I felt a smidgeon of dread begin to fill me. _

"_Um, Sasuke how about we have dinner out?"_

"_Why? We have a perfectly good kitchen right here, and besides I want to spend time with you alone. It's been nearly three years since I've seen you."_

"_I—I…O-okay."_

_Sasuke pulled me around the corner and stopped looking down at the floor. I felt him stiffen and his hands that had been holding mine clench painfully. I whimpered at the sudden wrenching pain in my hand._

"_S—Sas—ke? Yo—you're h-hu-rting me,' I said in halting tones._

"_What is this shit?" He began turning to me and I gasped. It wasn't Sasuke standing next to me it was Sakon. "Do you think that I slave away at a real job for you just so I can come home to filth littering our home?! I didn't marry trash to live in a dirty home. If I had wanted to live in filth I would have married that trashy slut Tayuya! I thought that I was marrying someone with class who would keep the home that I provide clean and least!"_

_The hand raised and slammed into the side of my head. I swung nearly around but the hand on mine pulled me back dragging me around with increasing momentum until my head bounced…_

I blinked pulled out of the dream as the telephone rang. I was sitting at the table, confused until the last thing that I remembered filtered into my fogged brain. I'd sat down at the computer to do some research on children's books. I guess that I must have fallen asleep.

The phone rang again insistently and I reached for it noticing the fine trembling in my fingers. I gripped the phone hard to try and stop it and pressed the talk button.

"He-Hello?"

"Naruto! Thank god, I was worried that you'd left!" Sakura's voice pierced the headset and I winced at the loudness of it.

"Left, where?" I asked confused.

"I was afraid that since you didn't show up for your appointment that you'd packed up and left again!"

"Appointment?" I glanced at the clock then the window and saw that it was late afternoon, nearly five. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sakura, I was doing research and I…"

"Well, never mind that," she yelled interrupting me. "Get your butt down here so that we can do your therapy session."

"Um, how about we not and say--"

"No! It's either you come here or I go there. And trust me, if I have to come out there I will torture you within an inch of your life!"

The phone disconnected and I clicked the off button then stared at it in near horror. I knew just what Sakura was capable of when she didn't get her way. I did a quick search for my keys and when to therapy.

It has been three weeks since the welcome home party.

My left leg ached fiercely but for the life of me I couldn't rest. I had an hour before I had to be at Jiraiya's bar. I'd gone from working in the kitchens and was now serving drinks behind the bar. I didn't need the pay and I returned the paychecks that Jiraiya insisted on sending to me. It was enough that I was working on my fear of being around people, trying to converse normally with them, and appear normal, though I think I failed in that respect last night.

A customer who had been getting friendly for the past week had grabbed me as I passed him on the way to take a break. He'd pulled me onto his lap and felt me up.

I closed my eyes as I remembered the disgust and fear that had filled me. Needless to say that I'd had a violent reaction to his overtures.

I'd grabbed the neared bottle of beer and slammed it down on the nearest thing I could reach. His hand. The bottle broke and sliced through his flesh leaving behind large pieces of glass. He'd howled, dumping me on the floor as he jumped to his feet, he'd pulled back a steel toed boot and…

Jiraiya had tackled him before the boot could land. I'd been pulled to my feet and ushered into the kitchen and away from the scene that was ensuing. I could hear Jiraiya's angry shouts as I was pulled away.

Sitting in the kitchen with the cook throwing glares at the closed doors and worried looks at me, I shook. My thoughts chaotic and jumbled. The worst was that I was turning into the monster. I was turning into him, my husband. Reacting violently to things. My hands were splayed in front of me and I found each little fleck of blood. It wasn't my own and each tiny drop hammered the coffin shut.

I wondered if I connected the dots if it would show me a picture of what I would become.

I heard the sound of a clearing throat and looked up. Surprise clouded my vision for a moment as I stared at the dashing figure in front of me. Tall, and lithe in the khaki uniform, Sasuke frowned back at me. I could see the tiny Uchiha clan symbol in the tie pin that he wore and it winked mischievously at me.

"Naruto," he said evenly, "what did you do now?"

I hadn't seen him since the party and my eyes drank him in like a soul lost in a barren wasteland. I shuddered briefly as I tried to collect my thoughts.

"Ishikawa Giishi says that you deliberately slammed a beer bottle down on his hand."

I blinked. _What the hell?_ "Yes, but not before he grabbed me and st—st—started t—tou—tou…" I trailed off because I couldn't continue, the humiliation getting to be too much for me. I looked down at my hands again, this time they were clenched in my lap as I tried not to think about what that man had tried to do.

"Jiraiya said that Giichi pulled you into his lap and before he could get to you, you'd taken care of the matter yourself." I heard his distinct sigh. "Naruto, did Giichi do anything that inappropriate? You have to be truthful and say it out loud no matter how painful and embarrassing."

Under his all seeing eyes I squirmed in my seat. _God Damn It!_ I hated interrogations. I hated being put on the spot and most of all I hated having Sasuke seeing me like this.

"I was going outside to take a break from serving drinks at the bar. Giichi has been…" I cut myself off trying to find the right words, "well, he's been making a nuisance of himself, asking me for dates, making comments, and such. Whenever he got the chance he'd—he'd…pet my butt, or pinch it. I've asked him numerous times to knock it off. I've told him that I wasn't interested. Tonight when I walked past him—he was sitting at the end of the bar—he grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. I—he—I…" I breathed out then inhaled slowly before spitting it out. "He touched my breast and I—I just lost it. I grabbed the bear and brought it down on the hand that was in front of me on the table. The bottle broke and cut him. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor watching his leg coming to kick me. Then Jiraiya had him of the floor and was yelling and Amaru was pulling me into the kitchen." I swayed slightly in my seat as the event seemed to catch up to me. My eyes closed tightly as I stilled the movement.

Thought were beginning to filter through. What the hell was Sasuke doing here? In a police uniform? Why wasn't he working for his father? He'd gone to Harvard hadn't he, so how could a Harvard graduate be working as a lowly cop in a small town? There were too many thoughts and not enough answers.

"Why are you here?" I heard someone ask and I realized that it was me.

"Well, the sherriff's office got a call about a disturbance here and since I was on duty then it was up to me to take care of it." I could practically hear that annoying smirk in his even voice and I was sure that if I looked up at him I would see that arrogant tilting of his lips that said to the world 'I'm better than you.'

"No, not why are you here, here. Why are you _here_? Why are you wearing a police uniform and not working for your father? I thought that it was what you wanted to do, to be. You always talked about getting him to acknowledge you by working for him and being all brilliant." I knew that I wasn't making sense and that I was just babbling.

"That changed. I changed. I found that I hated all the business politics, sitting at a desk eight to sixteen hours a day. And when I had an opportunity to ride along on a routine traffic watch which didn't turn out to be routine, I decided that I wanted to go into law enforcement. It really isn't all the unbelievable seeing as how a lot of my family happens to be in some type of law enforcement. I have several uncles who are in the military and cousins that work in security. I just happen to like being the sheriff of Konoha. But we aren't here to talk about my past. We're here to straighten up this mess and I have to go talk to Jiraiya and Giichi again." He turned and I finally raised my eyes to watch him leave.

_God, he still has a fine ass,_ came a random thought and I was glad that he had his back turned.

I heard a snicker and looked up to see the cook looking at me with a knowing look. I was sure that my now I was looking like a tomato.

That had been last night. After what seemed like forever, Sasuke was loading Giichi into the back of his state issued SUV so that he could sleep it off in a cell before Sasuke booked him with harassment, being drunk in public, and a public menace and anything else he could find to charge him with. Jiraiya gave me the rest of the night off, which I was grateful for, but it really didn't help me since I didn't sleep.

And now here I was wandering an empty house waiting to go back. I wandered from room to room restless. I picked up, folded, dusted, moved anything light enough to move and rearranged the whole of my bedroom, living room, and even rearranged the kitchen into random chaos just so that I could fix it.

I was bored!

When I entered an unused room, I was stopped by the light that filtered in through the tall windows. The light in this room wasn't hindered by the trees outside and it shone brightly throughout the room. And I was pierced with a need to paint, right now, right this second. But the problem was I didn't have any supplies. Annoyance surfaced in me. It was another thing that I had lost through the years. Sakon had to have all attention focused on him and if it wasn't he became nasty. When I painted and ignored him I was subjected to comments that were biting and hurtful.

"What the hell is that? Is that supposed to be a turnip? God that is and awful color, are you trying to make people sick? I think that you're painting it upside down. I think you should just give up, clearly you aren't going to be the next Van Goh or even Hancock."

It had eventually gotten to the point that he'd used the canvass as firewood just so that he wouldn't have to watch me paint or 'look at such horrible splotches'. I'd never touch a brush again. I didn't even go the museum which had been my favorite past time just to see the magnificent 'splotches' and feel the peace.

Filled with a new mission I went to find my purse.

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**A/N: Yes, I know that it is a short chapter but I'm hoping that you all get that Naruto is trying to get back some of the life that was taken from her by Sakon. If there are any spelling, or gramatical errors, please don't push you luck because you're lucky to be getting an update! Just Kidding! No really, don't push your luck or...Orochimaru gets it *holds kunai to Orochimaru's jugular* .**

**Thanks again, please leave a review before you leave...or...oh, i already said that part. Well, if you don't want Orochimaru to die or even if you do please leave a response at the corner of fourth and lexington or just click the review button at the bottom of the story...you did know that there was one there just to the left of the next chapter button!**

**Loves and Hugs (Orochimaru looks at you with pleading eyes: PLEASE, PLEASE, DON'T LET HER KILL ME! SHE'S NUTS, CRAZY! HELP ME PLEASE!)**

**ZEN, MWAHAHAHA!!!!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: You know I only do this for the reviews. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I have first dibs when Kishimoto decides to give him away! I do, I do, he said so...okay he didn't say so but I'm claiming first dibs anyways!**

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I stood before the blank canvas and just stared at it. I wanted, needed, to paint but as I reached for the brush my mind was blank about what I wanted to paint. I put down the brush and picked up a pallet knife dipping it into the dark gray I moved it over to the canvas. Perhaps…if I started with a landscape. I touched the knife to the fabric and instead of a slow sloping mountain, my hand had a life of its own and it slashed across the canvas leaving a dark mark across it. If I'd picked crimson it would look like I'd flayed open living flesh leaving a gaping wound.

Blinking at the thought I winced and pulled the knife back, dipping it in fresh paint, before trying again. But again the knife slashed upward and my mind shut down. I painted furiously, mixed colors and allowed the knife to again and again swipe across the canvas until I had filled the whole of it with dark colors and I pulled back panting at the pace in which I'd worked.

I stood back and looked at the angry picture before turning my back to it and walking out of the room. I made my way to the kitchen feeling the lethargy creeping up on me but I refused to give into it. I stood at the counter drinking a glass of water the decided that I didn't want to be alone anymore. I placed the glass by the sink, once again refusing to wash it and put it away. I picked up my keys and walked out the front door.

Jiriaya's wasn't open at this time of day so I thought about the next best place to go. I could visit with Ino at her house, or Hinata. I didn't dare go and visit Sakura for fear of the torture I would have to endure. Temari was out of town visiting her siblings and Tenten would be at the school teaching.

I reached the jeep and frowned. On the windshield hooked under one of the wipers was an envelop. A plain white envelop, innocent but menacing at the same time. I gingerly picked it up and turned it over looking for anything that would tell me who it came from. But there was nothing, no writing, no address. I slid a finger under the flap and tore it open across the top fold. I pulled out a dense piece of paper and flipped it over. A scream was nearly wrenched from my throat as I looked down at the picture.

It was me from six months ago, but it wasn't from when I was in the hospital. I was lying crumpled on the back drop of green grass bleeding and broken. Three cuts marked my cheeks but you wouldn't be able to tell through the blood and the left side of my face was swollen and purple from the beating while the right was less swollen. My right arm was crooked giving testament to the broken bone but what really gave the scene its more macabre feel was my left leg. It was lying in an awkward angle was bent in places that didn't bend.

Shaking I went back into the house, locking the door then running madly around checking all the windows and the back door making sure that they were locked, though I was certain that it wouldn't stop someone who was determined to get in, it hadn't the last time. Once I was sure that every door was locked I crawled into a small space between the kitchen cupboards and pulled out my cell phone. I hit the keypad dialing the only person who I thought could help me and listened to the phone ring.

"This is Ibiki Morino, and I'm away from the phone right now or unable to pick up, please leave you name, number, and case file, and I will get back to you as soon as I am able, if this is an emergency please contact the emergency hotline for help." The deep voice rumbled out. I swallowed and looked down at my cell pressing the disconnect button. I would have called his partner but knew that if he was busy she would be also.

I closed my eyes and swallowed, feeling what was left of my pride sliding down my throat.

"Good morning, sheriff's office, how may I help you?" It was a pleasant voice.

"Can I talk to someone on duty?"

"Sure, who may I ask is calling?"

"Naruto."

"Oh, Naruto! How are you? This is Anko by the way."

"I-I…"

"Oh! You wanted to talk to someone, here let me forward you to Sasuke."

Before I could think of a reason to hang up I heard his voice on the other end.

"Naruto?"

"I—I'm s—so—sorry for c-calling. I—I know you're busy but I think someone followed me here. C—Could you come over?"

"Yes, I will be there in five minute if not sooner, lock all the door and windows."

"I did."

"Good, I'm going to keep this line open okay, you can talk to me." I heard the faint sound of a car door closing and breathed out a relieved sigh. He was going to be here soon. "Naruto, tell me what happened?"

"I was going into town, I d—didn't want to be a—alone so I thought I would find someone to hang out with but I couldn't think of anyone. I saw an envelop under the windshield wiper and I—I thought that it was odd. I opened it and a picture was inside. I—it was…" I trailed off. How was I supposed to explain that night when I didn't remember it. "It was a picture of me."

"Hn. What did it show?" I could tell that his voice had grown tense.

"It was that night, the night I got my scars." I whispered. It hurt to speak about it out loud, it dug into my mind, piercing through my thoughts and trying to dislodge memories that refused to be brought to the surface.

"Hn."

"You do realize that, that grunt is more annoying than anything," I groused.

"Which is why I do it. If you're angry or annoyed then you aren't scared."

My mouth fell open slight. He was right. I wasn't terrified anymore, just mildly annoyed.

"I learned that from you," he continued.

The more I thought about it I began to remember things. The times when I knew that I was in deep trouble for some prank or for getting a bad mark on a test and Sasuke would walk me home. I'd ask question after question.

What was I going to tell my dad?

Hn.

Oh, I was so dead, he's going to kill me!

Hn.

What was my dad going to do?

Hn.

Will you just please answer me?

Hn.

Teme!

"Think you're really smart don't you," I muttered into the phone.

"Yes, and everything I know about dealing with criminals, I learned from you."

"Teme!"

I heard the sound of an engine being cut off and tensed.

"I'm here, come open the door," he said calmly.

I crawled out from under the counters and went to the door. I opened it to see Sasuke standing there holding the photo with gloved hands and an evidence bag, studying it. A frown marred his smooth features then he looked up at me and anger flash in he dark eyes making them seem crimson for just a moment. I took a step back but forced myself to stop.

"Who is working your case?"

"Detective Ibiki Morino." I stepped aside and allowed him to come in.

"Hn. When I was in the academy we studied a chapter about interrogation and most of it was about what he'd accomplished in that area."

"And I'm pretty sure that he used every known method that he made up on me." I offered a small smile.

That time in the hospital had been full of confusing and often blunt questions. Questions that made me go through every range of emotion from rage to deep sadness. But Ibiki hadn't been able to learn much about what had happened that night. He'd left only to come back time and time again to ask more questions. He'd learn just about everything about my life just not that night. Who'd been there, what had kicked it off, and who had done what. Nothing, my mind was completely blank about that day from morning till when I woke in the hospital.

I knew what I'd done the day before. The cleaning, I'd been getting ready for company the next day but Sakon hadn't told me who was coming but I could guess. His usual cronies, Tayuya, Kidoumaru, Kimimaro, and Jiroubou. They called themselves the Sound Five because they'd been in a band together, but hadn't made it big much to Sakon's disappointment.

I shook the memory off and looked at Sasuke who was watching me with unfathomable eyes.

"Hey, Sasuke!' I heard a shout from outside. I looked back and saw Kiba walking around slowly. "I'm not seeing any foot prints but then again with all the marks on this driveway I would expect to find anything new. And there aren't any tire marks either."

"Just keep looking, Kiba!"

I jumped. Sasuke was standing right next to me looking out the door at the shaggy headed man. I immediately withdrew into the house and away from his warm solid body, feeling the heat work its way into my face.

I sat down on the sofa dropping my head into my hands as I tried once again to get the memories to surface. I wanted that night behind me but until I remembered, it would stay with me.

"Kiba will finish looking around and then take this back to the station to be analyzed for finger prints." He didn't say it but I could hear the doubt in his voice. He was sure that he wouldn't find anything but my finger prints on the photo.

He sat down across from me on the coffee table and I waited for the questions to come.

"You haven't been sleeping." It was a statement.

"Not really, no. Only when I can't keep my eyes open any longer."

"That's very dangerous, Naruto. What do you think would happen if you fell asleep at the wheel?"

I know that he didn't want to hear the real answer; that I would hopefully die, so, "I don't get behind the wheel when I know that I'm close to that point."

"Hn. Tell me about California. Did you get an apartment?"

"Jiraiya knew the dean, Orochimaru, they'd been kids together, so he called when he found out that I'd left. With his help I found an apartment close to the school that was pretty cheap."

I had been content during those first few months. But my memories were clouded by the events that followed.

"Classes started and I took all the art classes that I could along with the required academics like English, Math, you know the ones that I hate. I met a guy named Sai and he tutored me with those classes. He was a really good artist and I learned a lot from him." Sai had looked so much like Sasuke that it'd hurt but I'd focused on the differences. Like Sai's smile for the most part was fake; he didn't talk about his past and I didn't ask, though eventually he'd mentioned that he'd had a brother who had died. Sai was more of a sketch artist than a painter. I loved the colors and Sai liked the simple lines of a charcoal stick.

"What happened to him?"

"Oh, we drifted apart eventually taking different classes and I was hanging with a new crowd. The dean introduced me to his nephew who was into music and…" I trailed off before talking again.

Orochimaru had introduced us at a party that he was hosting at the school. He'd been talking to Jiraiya and found out that I was just out of a long term relationship, if you could call it that. I was vulnerable and hurting and Orochimaru had taken advantage of the situation to set me up with Sakon. I found out later that Orochimaru was coaching him on how to act, what to say, and where to take me. And I'd fallen for it hard.

Sakon had been a slow mover at first asking me to have coffee with him at the school's coffee shop. I'd given in thinking that it wouldn't hurt to start going out with someone. He'd taken me to the museums, and seemed to know what he was talking about when he discussed the colors and even the way the brush stokes of a certain painting showed the artists feelings. He took me to some of the local art galleries when one of my favorite painters had been displayed. He'd been charming, intelligent, and sincere.

Then he asked me to come to some of his bands rehearsals. They'd been good, I thought. I got to meet his friends. Occasionally they would look at each other as if silently communicating between themselves, but I wasn't privy to the talks or discussions.

It was just after one of those rehearsals that Sai approached me. He'd been concerned because I'd been cutting classes, one of which I was still taking with him. I'd sneered at him and told him to quit harassing me. I didn't like him that way and it wasn't any of his business what I was doing, he wasn't S—my father. He'd asked me about seeing Sakon wanting to know if I was dating him. I'd come back with a confirmation, not that it was any of his business. Then he'd mentioned that he'd heard rumors about Sakon, that he'd hurt his last girlfriend. And that a girl he'd been dating in high school had disappeared.

I told him that all those rumors were a crock, and that Sakon was the kindest and sweetest person that I'd met. I'd berated him for being jealous then turned and left him standing in the hallway.

"Maybe I should have listened to him, he'd never told me a single lie about anything, but I'd just brushed everything he'd said off as a lie. And why am I talking about this?" I fell silent.

"Because you need to tell someone," Sasuke said reassuringly.

"I've gone to therapy sessions, I've attended those group meetings with other women who'd gone through the same things but never felt the need to spout off like this. Why now, and why you?"

"Perhaps it's because you've always told me everything. What happened next?"

"I went to find Sakon, I wanted to talk to him about the rumors…"

I tried calling him on my cell but he didn't pick up. So I got on the bus that would take me to the nearest bus stop next to his apartments. I'd walked up the three sets of stairs dodging kids that were racing down them screaming hand covered to filter the smell of urine.

I'd knocked of the door only to have it swing open and I thought that he'd gotten the message that I'd left him, telling him that I was on my way over. I entered the apartment and looked around. Frowning I first saw the shirt on the floor, then the pants. They'd been feminine but that didn't penetrate my mind as I heard sounds coming from down the hallway. My feet automatically followed those sounds and at the end bedroom I looked in to see Sakon and Tayuya in bed together. Tayuya on top with Sakon's hands tied to the head board.

I must have made a sound because Tayuya looked around. Seeing me standing in the door way with an appalled look she'd smiled at me before leaning down to say something to Sakon. His head had whipped around to look at my pale features.

"Naruto!" He'd bucked Tayuya off.

I fled but I didn't make it to the door before he'd caught me. He'd pulled me around begging me to let him explain. I kneed him in the groin and went for the door again only to find Tayuya standing in front of it. She landed a punch into my gut knocking the breath from me.

"Now, you are going to let Sakon explain," she'd said and I heard the or else in her voice.

I was led to the couch and pushed down into it as Sakon stumbled to a chair limping and trying not to grab his abused appendage. My chin rose as I watched with satisfaction as he winced.

"Na--," his voice was a little higher than normal and he cleared his throat before starting again, "Naruto, I…this thing with Tayuya means nothing to me." I glanced at Tayuya to see her raise an eyebrow then roll her eyes. "See, I have…needs. And since you won't fulfill those needs, then I went to Tayuya."

"Oh, I see…" I said from between clenched teeth. "Since I won't fuck you whenever you feel like it than you found someone who will." I stood. "Well, then have a nice life." I walked to the door, opened it and stepped out into the smelly hallway, and slammed the portal behind me.

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**A/N: Oooo, cliffy!!!! Yay me! :D I so do love a good story that is left hanging, especially when I'm the one writing it! Oh and I'm terribly sorry, Orochimaru met with a terrible ending. Some of my reviewers got a hold of him and...well, needless to say it wasn't a pretty picture. There was some feather boas, lipstick, and some high heals....well, I think you get the picture. Oro has expired and you shouldn't see him again. Horaary for Fans Every where!!!! Stay tuned till next time and if you want a quick update (I'm really busy and probably won't be able to update until next week unless i get tons and tons of reviews) REVIEW!**

**Throws kisses to audience,**

**Exits stage right!  
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	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yes, the next chapter just as I promised! Warning: there is a switch in POV. I wasn't going to do it at first but then I thought that perhaps it would be cute, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. And I apologize now if there are grammar and spelling errors (which there probably is so you've been forwarned you don't need to point them out)**

**Disclaimer: *looks around stealthily before tip toeing up to vault* I'm going to own Naruto...*ALARMS BLARE* ARGH! *RUNS FOR LIFE* I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

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"Wait, you left? Then how did you end up married to him?" Sasuke asked as confusion appeared.

"His uncle and my grandfather had a lot to do with it. After a couple of weeks, Orochimaru came to see me. I'd been studying my ass off trying to get my grades back up to a passing level. I'd missed classes because I was spending time with Sakon and I hadn't turned any assignments in so I was getting them in and having to accept the lower grades because they were late.

"Well, Orochimaru showed up at my door step wanting to talk to me about my situation. He told me that Sakon was miserable. He'd made a mistake and felt truly terrible for what had happened between us. Somehow he convinced me that Sakon had turned over a new leaf and that he really loved me. And he also hinted that if I took him back then my grades would be raised." I snorted.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, blackmail, and I guess it was. I didn't want to disappoint Dad and so I accepted, but I told him that it was on a trial basis only and if anything happened then I wouldn't suffer because of it with bad grades. Orochimaru accepted. We started dating again but I didn't quit going to classes, by the end of the school year, I had passing grades in all of my subjects. Jiraiya called me to tell me how proud of me he was and that he was so happy that he would now have a family connection with his best friend. After a couple of more weeks Sakon hit me with the big question.

"He took me to an expensive restaurant that his uncle had recommended. About half way through the meal, I was relaxed and feeling really good, probably from all the alcohol that Sakon kept pouring into my glass. Well, he slid out of his seat, and startled I watched him pull out a small black box. He smiled gently at me, then asked me to marry him. It was so romantic and charming, and I did love him so I accepted."

I fell silent thinking about the events.

"When did he start getting physical?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"We were sending the invitations out and I wanted to invite you all but Sakon disapproved and said that we should keep the wedding small with only family invited. I—I said that you guys were my family and I wanted you there. I—I could see that he was getting angry so I went to say that it was okay that a small seeding was fine, but I didn't get the chance. Sakon slapped me, told me that I was being selfish by not respecting his opinion with the wedding plans also."

"You weren't married to him and he was already getting physically violent? The Naruto I knew wouldn't have taken that kind of treatment." Sasuke commented with a shake of his head and I saw the questions that raced across his face.

"I didn't. I got up right then and walked out of the apartment. The thing is…I started thinking that maybe I was being selfish, that I hadn't fully understood why Sakon wanted a small wedding.

"The next morning a large bouquet of roses was sitting by my door with a letter asking me to forgive him."

"Roses? But you don't like roses, you always said that they were cliché and if anyone knew you well enough then they would give you sunflowers."

I smiled but it only lasted a second at the most before disappearing. I loved their wide faces because they always looked like they were smiling at the sun throughout the day. There was a field behind our house as I grew up and it was filled with sunflowers every year. Sasuke and I as well as all of our friends had played hide and go seek in that field during the hot summer days. Yeah, I adored sunflowers and thinking back Sakon hadn't ever given me sunflowers.

"Everyday for a week a new bouquet arrived with a letter of apology, the last with a small note. Sakon asked if I would talk to him before I flew of the handle and broke the engagement that had made both Orochimaru and Jiraiya happy. I agreed and we met at one of the local coffee shops. He apologized again and said that he didn't know what he'd been doing. He said that with the band not getting a lot of gigs that money had become tight and bill collectors were starting to call, and the stress of the wedding had been getting to him. He said a lot of things that sounded sincere and told me how much he loved me and how miserable his life had been since the incident. And how lonely."

"I guess it was that particular point that managed to bring me around because I understood how lonely it was. I was away from my family, my friends, and everyone I knew so I understood the loneliness."

"But he wasn't. His family and friends were close by," Sasuke interrupted.

"I never said I was logical, if you remember the logical part of school really wasn't my strong point.

"Anyway, I decided to give it another go. After all I hated going back on my word and I'd promised to marry him. Sakon suddenly grabbed my hand and said that if I loved him as much as he loved me then we should just bag the wedding preparations and go to Las Vegas and get married. He sounded so earnest and I felt the need to prove my love to him so that's what we did.

"I felt blissfully happy. I was married to a man I loved and we could start our lives together. The bliss lasted only until we got back, the next day. When we got home, Sakon said that he had a gig that night and I complained that we were supposed to be on our honeymoon. Then suddenly the man that I loved turned into a monster.

"I'm not even sure what happened, all I really remember is waking up in the middle of the night. My ribs hurt beyond belief, my face was bruised, and it was completely dark. I remember thinking that I hadn't even opened my eyes but when I went to touch them I poked myself. Sakon had locked me in a room that had no windows, no carpet, and only one way out. It was a panic room I later found out and Sakon had rigged it so that it only opened from the outside.

"I was there for two and a half days without food and water. When he opened the door, I remember that he was smiling gently at me. I was terrified that he would leave me there for longer or that I would die there but he'd opened the door and was smiling at me. 'Are you ready to tell me you're sorry for trying to hurt my career?' Those were the first words that he spoke and as he said them he showed me that he was holding a bottle of water in one hand and a sandwich in the other. I was so thirsty and so hungry that I would have said anything to get those two items, so, on my hands and knees I begged him for forgiveness.

"For the next year, every time I stepped over that invisible line I ended up in that room and every time for longer and longer periods. Oh, he never let me go longer that two days without something to eat or drink but there were days when I thought that he was never going to let me out. Once, I spent a whole month in the dark, being given water and food every two days."

Sasuke's phone rang interrupting my monologue. With an exasperated sigh, Sasuke looked at the display before answering. A few of his famous grunts later, he hung up.

"That was Kiba. He says that the only finger prints on the photo are yours and that it's printed on plain photo-paper that can be found in more that a million one-hour photo shops. So in other words, there aren't any leads on who could have sent you the photo."

I nodded to show my understanding then glanced out the window. It was dark and I was surprised at how late it had gotten.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasuke! I didn't realize how late it has gotten!" I exclaimed.

"It alright, Naruto, I really don't mind. Besides, you needed to have someone here and I wasn't about to leave you alone. Until I get to the bottom of this whole thing then I think that it would be a good idea if you weren't alone. So I will be here and when I'm not then I will have Kiba watching you." Sasuke's calmly said words took a minute to process.

"What?!" I shouted.

"Someone left that photo and until I know who did then I will be staying with you and when…"

"Oh, NO!" I shook my head. The photo had terrified me, but having Sasuke underfoot for an indefinite period of time, scared me nearly to death.

But no matter how many arguments I brought up or said no, in the end Sasuke moved into the guest room that was right next to mine, the one with the connecting door, just in case someone got into the house and into my room without him knowing.

* * *

I slipped out of my room through a pair of French doors trying to be a quiet as I possibly could so that I didn't alert Sasuke to the fact that I was no longer in my room. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was out in the cool night air and Sasuke's room remained dark. For a minute I just stood there and drank in the sweet smell of pine and the beauty of the forest beyond the porch.

It had been a week since Sasuke had forced his way into my home. It was awkward with him being there and today was worse than ever.

This morning as I was fixing myself an omelet, he'd joined me without a shirt on and the fact that he wasn't the boy that I remembered had never been clearer. He'd definitely grown up. His chest was smooth sculpted from daily workouts at a nearby dojo, to running nearly ten miles every morning, and weight lifting. I never inquired about the training that Sasuke did but I'd learned about it through Kiba.

Every time Sasuke left, Kiba showed up. I'd forgotten how much Kiba and I had been alike and was reminded once more by the fact that the man never shut up. I'd end up having to leave the room and shut myself in my new studio just so that I could have some peace and quiet. But then the TV's loud blaring could be heard so within a day I had bought a brand new I-pod and had downloaded nearly two hundred songs onto it so that I didn't have to listen to reruns of Lassie!

I still couldn't paint a landscape or a still life no matter how hard I tried. A bowl of fruit ended up looking more like I'd killed someone against it. The landscapes looked like a slasher had painted them or the canvas became a blank black window almost as dark as the panic room I'd ended up telling Sasuke about.

I was reaching a the point of exhaustion where I would, and could fall asleep anywhere but I was determined not to. The dreams were getting worst and more terrifying. Most of the time I was back in that room praying that he would remember me. But every once in a while I would be walking through the cherry blossoms and…

I blocked the image out of my mine refusing to think about what would happen next.

I settled onto the bench, drew up my legs, and tucked the fleece blanket that I'd brought around me. I sat listening to the sounds the crickets made and the rustle of the wind through the trees. A small rabbit hopped past the cabin keeping to the tree line and I smiled as it raised its little nose to sniff the air before disappearing into the underbrush.

I felt my eyelids grow heavy and fought the urge to sleep but I didn't move. Eventually sleep over took me and my body slumped to the side.

* * *

I slid open the doors of the guest room and stepped out into the darkness. I'd heard Naruto leave her room even though I knew that she was being quiet. She'd avoided me as much as she was able when two people lived under one roof and I'd known how uncomfortable she'd been this morning when I'd come to the kitchen for breakfast.

It had been intentional because I was gambling with both out lives. I'd lost her once and though she'd told me it was too late, I refused to believe it. But I also knew that the road that I was leading us down would be a long, twisted trail. I could only imagine what she'd gone through and by what little I knew of her story I was going to assume the worst.

I'd spent the last week running back ground checks of everyone that she'd mentioned. And every one of them had felony crimes linked to their names. I wondered if Naruto knew about them or if she'd been kept in the dark. If she knew then her life was in danger, the top dog, Orochimaru would come after her if he wasn't already. I felt the sick, nauseated feeling deep in the pit of my gut warning me, begging me to grab her and run for the nearest deserted island. Or at least build high walls around her out of the thickest iron I could find and never let anyone close to her.

I'd even run a back ground screening on her to see if any of the crimes were linked to her name. What I'd found out had only left me with more pieces to a puzzle that so far didn't even have a picture to it. A year ago, it seems, Naruto's husband had her committed to a State Hospital for trying to kill herself. But that couldn't be true, because the Naruto I knew had been a fighter no matter what the odds stacked against her were.

I was hoping that she would talk to me some more which was why I was out here to begin with.

"Naru--," I began only to have my breath lodge in my throat as I spotted her slumped form on the bench. Sighing heavily I looked down at her.

The blond hair was the same shade of blond from her younger years; it was my sunshine on a rainy day. (Yes, some times I get poetic, but only in my head where no one can hear…and if you say anything to anyone I will hunt you down and fry your ass!) The soft features were relaxed and she looked like a fallen angel, complete with haunted blue eyes. The whisker like scars that marred her cheeks now gave her an exotic appeal and I brushed my thumb across them in comfort. The cupid's bow mouth had a slight frown on it and I wanted desperately to lean down and kiss sleeping beauty awake.

There had been a time during out younger years when I could have done just that, but I'd refrained not wanting to lose my best friend. I'd meant to do it right. But for some reason I hadn't found the right time…or perhaps I was just too big of a coward. I'd feared rejection and I couldn't have handled it if Naruto had rejected me. Now I regretted that decision.

Learning the reason why Naruto had run had filled me with so much anger, but also behind that was elation. I knew now that she had felt the same towards me. The anger was at my stupidity in being drawn into Suigetsu's and Karin's situation. Naruto had met the girl a few times while attending some of the parties that my parents threw, but seeing as how they had traveled in the same circles Naruto hadn't remembered her.

I'd acted as an emissary between the two and Karin's furious father, later on, to resolve the situation, because the Kamis knew that I did not want to have to marry the girl. Before the summer was out Karin's father had agreed to allow the two to marry and had even given Suigetsu a job at his corporation. The two were happily married and living in Sacramento having transferred there at the beginning of the year for a promotion.

Once they were married I concentrated all of my efforts in trying to find Naruto. I'd harassed Minato for information about where she was and what she was doing. I'd even gone to Jiraiya who'd just stood there with he arms folded across his large chest and smirked at me.

"Finally, got what you deserved, my boy," the white haired man had said then turned and walked into his bar.

It had all been for nothing because neither of the two had even given me the time of day.

Until six months ago.

Jiraiya had closed the bar and disappeared for an entire week. It had started some talk that he'd met someone and was sneaking off to have an affair. Most had speculated that the man had finally convinced one of the young girls that he was always hitting on into going away with him but no one knew who it could have been.

Then he'd returned. He didn't open the bar when he got back and he refused to see anyone. I'd even gone to see if he was alright but the man had looked at me with terrible eyes. A single tear had fallen before I found myself looking back at a slammed door. I thought about pitching a fit because for some reason I'd known that what had happened involved Naruto somehow, but I remembered at the last second that I was an Uchiha and Uchiha's didn't pitch fits. We brooded silently. And brood I did.

I even made every single one of our friends promise me that if they heard from Naruto, about Naruto, or saw Naruto that they would contact me immediately. Little good that did because they had betrayed it in an instant.

I'd gone through waves of shocking heat and bitter cold since learning that Naruto had officially come home. Every time I saw her heat would flash through me and I spent most of the day walking around with a semi hard-on. But thinking about what all might have been done to her filled my heart with bitter cold. It forced me to take things slow.

I was going to have to rebuild out relationship again from the basement up. I was going to have to rip out the foundation that we'd had and start over from there and even though I was looking forward to it I knew it was going to take time…I just hoped that it didn't take ten years to do it this time.

I bent over knowing that I couldn't leave Naruto out here in the chilly night air. I slid my arms under her body and knees then lifted her to my chest cuddling her close. If Kiba could have seen me holding Naruto and watching her with a tender expression on my face I knew that he would never let me live it down. Then I would be forced to kill the man and get rid of the body. I would regret the sadness that I would cause Hinata but it was better than hearing him crow for the next sixty years.

Careful not to jar Naruto, I opened the French doors to her room and walked over to her bed. I smiled at seeing the bright orange comforter that was flung back, it filled me with hope that the old Naruto was still inside of her kicking and screaming to be let out. I would just have to convince the new Naruto to let her out occasionally. I tucked her under that comforter, slid a hand over her brow, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Good night, Naruto."

"'night, Sasuke…"

I was startled by the response but it lifted the corners of my mouth into a full tender smile. She may not know it yet but she was definitely going to be mine. She was stiff and avoided any contact with me, but unconsciously she remembered me and she found me trust worthy. I brushed my lips across hers because the temptation was too much before pulling away. I forced my feet to walk back out the doors and into my room where I spent the rest of the night thinking of plans to win Naruto back.

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**A/N: *****looks around corner, panting* I think I lost them...****I hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone! but if it was ask questions and I will try to answer them...without giving away the rest of the plot! Leave a review, if you every want to see the next chapter again...*holds lighter up to laptop* I'm serious, I will burn it if you don't review! O.O**

**ZEN, the marvelous and mischievous  
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	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Another chapter like I promised.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just the ideas for this story!**

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I woke up warm and comfortably reclined in my bed and couldn't remember how I had gotten there. I'd been outside when I just couldn't stay awake any longer. And here I was tucked into my bed. To top it all off I hadn't dreamt last night either!

_What the hell?_

I bolted upright in my bed and listened to the house. It was quiet so it must still be early. I glanced at the clock. It was after one _in the afternoon_! I blinked at the time and picked it up to make sure that I wasn't seeing things. Surprise hit me like a bolt of lightening. I'd gotten more than ten hours of sleep last night without dreaming…well, I had dreamt but not my usual nightmares. I blushed remembering those dreams and swallowed thickly.

I threw back the covers and slipped my feet over the edge of the bed then stood. I shivered slightly at the cold floor but padded to my door. I cracked it open and heard the low volume on the TV. Kiba must be here already. I stepped out into the living room. Kiba must have been alerted by the creak of the floor or something because his head came around and he grinned up at me.

"Ah, good afternoon sleeping beauty," he teased lightly. He was stretched out along the couch with his arms folded over his chest in his normal position. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Nothing," I said, "I'm not really hungry, besides I have to be at Sakura's in twenty minutes."

"Really, darn, I was hoping for another omelet!"

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd made the omelet for myself but hadn't been able to eat it. Instead I'd given it to Kiba after Sasuke left.

I went to the laundry room and dug out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt then tried to find a matching pair of socks.

"You know, Naruto," Kiba began from the couch. I glanced at him to see a frown on his face, "if you continue to loose weight, I'm going to have to mention it to Sasuke and Sakura…" He'd obviously guessed.

"You know, Kiba, if you continue to harass me then there is no telling what may happen to you. I do have a missing husband after all."

I knew law enforcement types; they loved puzzles and figuring them out. Mine was the biggest puzzle right now so I had very little doubt that both men had done a complete background check on me and Sakon.

"Yeah, like you could hurt a fly," Kiba groused with a little huff, kind of like a dog does when the cat makes it up the tree.

Once dressed I pulled on my tennis shoes and looked at the time again, I had five minutes. Kiba stood and looked at me in expectation.

"What?"

"Come on, I'll drive."

I would have argued but thought 'what was the use?' Kiba was just as stubborn as I maybe even more so and besides I could come up with a million excuses why I should let him drive. One, I really didn't want to drive. Two, it would save on gasoline…

****

My forearm muscles were twitching and pain was shooting through my leg but I refused to let Kiba know how much pain I was in. Once I got to the house I could disappear into my bedroom for a while at least until the pain subsided enough that I wouldn't break down into tears. My teeth clenched as Kiba pulled into the driveway jarring me from by stiff posture. I wanted to whimper as we bumped up the dirt drive and came to a halt.

I opened the door, closed my eyes, and gritted my teeth even more tightly to insure that the sounds of agony stayed inside and slid out of the passenger seat of the cruiser. I limped up the steps to the door ignoring Kiba's offered arm of support.

Taped to the door was a plain white envelop with a single word scratched in all capital letters. _Naruto._ The writing looked familiar so I took it down and opened it. Another picture slid into my hand along with a single sheet of paper. It was a picture of Sakon with the black handle of a knife sticking out of his chest. I gasped dropping both items and collapsing to my knees clutching my stomach.

"Naruto!" Kiba shouted catching be before I hit the wooden deck.

Through a haze I heard him talking to someone then felt him pull me to my feet. The fact that I found myself suddenly higher than before was to much and I lurched to the steps jerking out of Kiba's arms. I made it off the porch before my body convulsed and my stomach gave up what little it contained, some water that Sakura had insisted that I drink during the work out and some green bile.

I felt Kiba holding my head and was grateful because I thought that it was going to explode and the whimpers that I'd been holding back clogged my throat. Tears of humiliation and terror ran down my face and I felt warm arms pull me close while a gentle voice murmured soothing sounds.

Everything seemed to move in a blur. I heard another car pull into the driveway and I was pulled from one set of arm to another that lifted me then carried me into the house. I was laid on the couch and a blanket covered me.

"Go turn up the heat," Sasuke's voice ordered. "I think that she'd gone into shock and we need to keep her warm."

After that my brain seemed to shut down completely. The image in the picture was flashing behind my eyes every time I blinked and there wasn't any way I could shut my eyes and sleep. It had been etched into my head and I was sure that my subconscious would be happy to torment me with it for a good long while.

I curled in on myself under the blanket feeling like I would never be warm again. I shivered almost violently and couldn't repress the shudders.

Dimly I heard Sasuke and Kiba in the background along with the tinny voice of Detective Morino. I was vaguely aware that they were discussing the picture that had shown up taped to my door. Then I heard the voices on my friends as they entered the house.

"Naruto?" Sakura crouched in front of me and I looked at her but didn't acknowledge her presence any more than that. I was numb and running on automatic. "Ino, would you make some tea or coffee. I think that Naruto could use a cup…lots of sugar."

"Sure thing. I'll even put on some soup," Ino said.

Sakura nodded then settled on the couch next to me. I heard her sigh heavily and pat my leg.

"Do you know that I went into physical therapy because of Lee? You remember how much he was into track and running, it seemed like he was always running from one place to another, called it training. Well, when we were in college, I still hadn't decided what direction I wanted to go. Then during one of the track meets, an opposing team member tripped Lee and deliberately stepped on him dislocating his knee and tearing the ligaments. Guy-sensei and Lee went to several different therapists and every one of them said that Lee had permanent damage done to his leg and would always have a limp and he would never be able run more than a few steps. He was so devastated that it nearly broke my heart so I started talking to some people and looking thing up on the internet. With Dr. Sannin's help I was able to come up with a program that would not only help strengthen Lee's leg but allow him full usage of it including running. It took nearly two years but Lee's back to running and competes in marathons." Sakura smiled at me, a sweet and tender look in her eyes as she talked about Lee.

I frowned at her as I caught what she'd said. "You knew Dr. Sannin?"

"Yeah, she was invaluable in helping me with Lee's recuperation. But I was surprised to heard from her about you. It really is a small world."

"Hn." I borrowed Sasuke favorite phrase and remembered the sheet of paper. I pulled myself up from the couch despite Sakura's protests wrapping the blanket around me as I went. I found Sasuke and Kiba with there heads together at the foot of the porch steps.

"…fingerprints," Kiba was saying.

The board creaked as I approached alerting them to my presence and they both turned around. Kiba looking somewhat guilty and Sasuke frowning at me.

"Naruto, you should be resting," he started but I raised an eyebrow in perfect imitation of his questioning look.

"What did it say?" I asked.

"What did what say?" he responded with that irritating look.

"What did the paper say?"

"I really don't think…"

"I need to know what it said," I bit out interrupting him. I closed my eyes a breathed deeply. He must have seen how close I was to the edge…the edge of what I wasn't sure but he gave me what I wanted.

"I said, 'you'll pay for what you did.'"

I froze of the spot and swayed slightly before gathering my energy reserves. I nodded then turned and left them to what ever it was they were discussing. Ino came out and took my arm to help me back into the house. She had noticed how pale I'd gotten and perhaps she was afraid that I would collapse before getting back to the couch.

Kiba left, I assumed that he went back to the station to finish finger printing the photo or whatever it was they needed to conduct a thorough investigation. I barely functioned enough to register the rest of my friends gathering around me. Jiraiya was standing behind me like a sentinel his arms folded across his chest and watching everyone just gathering information. Hinata showed up when Kiba came back and I saw Shino speaking quietly with Sasuke. Sakura, Ino, and Lee had taken it upon themselves to make an impromptu dinner for everyone and were currently serving soup and sandwiches to everyone who'd shown up.

Sakura had brought her a bowl but it remained untouched sitting in my lap as I stared down at the little cubes of chicken floating on the surface. My mind was occupied with trying to put the letter together with the image on the photo paper. The note implied that I was responsible for the image…for the knife in Sakon's chest. I was also coming to terms with the fact that I was indeed a widow, which was actually easier to accept. I felt lightness in my chest when my thoughts veered in that direction, like I had finally been freed from a prison and into the light after years of darkness. I almost smiled because it wasn't far from the truth.

There was also a crushing weight of guilt that was spearing through me at the same time. What had happened that night? Who was going to make me pay? Did I really ki--?

"Naruto, you need to eat," Sakura said standing in front of me as I sat on the couch. I looked up at her taking in her appearance for the first time since I'd gotten here. She looked more mature, like a mother should and I had a thought.

"Sakura, are you pregnant?" I asked bluntly. A blush spread across her face as her head ducked and she began to fidget. All noise died down as everyone turned to look at her. I had succeeded in taking the attention off me but I'd also done something else that I really hadn't intended.

"Th…I…we weren't going to say anything, but yes, Lee and I are going to have a baby," she whispered. Lee came up to stand behind her, his hand gently resting on her waist.

Chaos exploded as everyone rushed to congratulate them.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Sasuke asked as he sat down next to me.

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"Turn a traumatic event, filled with worry, into a happy event where everyone's thought are no longer on what's going to happen next but on blessing Sakura and Lee," he stated.

I remained quiet as I thought about it. I'd seen how concerned everyone was for me and I had little doubt that they'd continue being concerned but for the brief moment they were joyfully patting Lee on the back and kissing Sakura's blushing cheek. I saw Sakura's hands folded protectively over her stomach and felt my own lurch.

Sasuke must have notices where my gaze had landed. "Did you have children?"

"No, Sakon didn't want any and I…I'm glad that there weren't any," I said.

"Hn…" the grunt was said softly but I felt that familiar sick feeling when I thought anyone felt pity for me.

I pushed to my feet and headed for the kitchen.

"Naruto?"

"I've got to put my bowl away," I muttered and continued on through the house through the kitchen and into my studio where I shut the door and sank back against it in relief. I slid to the floor and buried my face into my hands angry at running away yet again. No matter how hard I tried to stay, there were always more surprises. Life didn't end because my world had fallen apart and I didn't know how to put it back together. Everything just seemed to be happening at once and I felt overwhelmed with fear, rage, and…hell, I did know but it just seemed to squeeze my heart in a vice grip that I couldn't loosen.

I heard a light knock on the door and Jiraiya's inquiry. I stood and opened the door. His wise eyes took in the pain filled look and even saw the anger. He stepped into the room and took my hand. I jerked but didn't pull away completely forcing my body to still. He pulled me over to the nearest painting and studied it then turned to the next.

"Did you know that your grandmother was a painter?"

"No," I whispered and odd feeling tugging at my heart as he spoke about his wife. In all my years he never talked about her. I asked about her when I was little but he would get up and leave the room and I quit asking.

"A young man decided to steal his father's stash of beer and go joy riding on the night of her first exhibition. I'd gone ahead to make sure that things were perfect for her special night. She didn't even make it out of the drive way when the boy swerved into the wrong lane and slammed into the driver's side of the car.

"I was laughing it up with several patrons while she died. It had gotten quite late and I began to worry and phone the house. The babysitter answered and told me that I need to come home. I got there just as they loaded her into the ambulance. They wouldn't even let me see her.

"Minato ran up to me and tried to hug me asking what had happened, what was wrong? He didn't understand why all the policemen were there and he was terrified but I couldn't look into that face that was so much like hers and tell him that his mommy was gone. My heart was consumed by darkness, just like in this painting." He motioned to the painting that was covered with thick black paint.

"That lasted until the funeral when the boy showed up to tell me how sorry it was. I looked into that boys eyes and all I saw was my wife's killer. I decked him and followed it up with a kick because he'd landed at my feet. I flew into a rage and it took several people to pull me off of that boy…he was only sixteen. I made sure that he was tried as an adult…and convicted." He motioned to the other paintings that were slashed with angry, dark marks.

"In the end, the boy committed suicide while in the prison that he'd been sent to. When I heard about it, I didn't feel relieved. I didn't feel angry that my revenge hadn't lasted. I felt guilt because I didn't tell that boy that I forgave him. His death didn't bring back the one person that I loved above all else, it didn't make anything better. It did drive me to see his family. We ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning. I brought Minato over to meet them, and we healed each other. It took a long time but we became good friends. They moved away before you were born and they had another son. I still send them a Christmas card every year with a letter telling them how things here are going.

"I've lost my wife, my son, and I'm terrified that I'm going to loose you too," he muttered his grip on my hand tightening almost painfully. "But I'm also terrified that I've already lost you, that you won't come back from this. Don't think that I haven't seen that you've lost weight since you've been here. You never smile, at least not a proper smile. You curve your lips up when you think it's the proper response but I don't see it reaching your eyes. Your smiles would light up your eyes and everyone would have to smile along with you. You don't even laugh and our lives were filled with your laughter."

Tears slid down my cheeks with his words. My chest hurt and I couldn't hold myself up anymore. Jiraiya pulled me into his arms and I buried my face in his clothes. I heard what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to forgive but I didn't know how. I was so afraid that it was already too late and that knife had been held by my hand.

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**A/N: How was that? Shocked, appalled? Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Reviews are the life of this story and the more I get the quicker I'll want to update! (HINT, HINT!)**

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**ZEN  
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	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Finally another update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I can write about him...Hip, Hip Horay!

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**I heard Sasuke moving about the house cleaning up the remnants of the emergency get together. I'd ditched my friends and family to be alone in my room. Jiraiya had asked me to forgive, to forgive the people who had hurt me. But the hurt was buried deep inside that it felt like a cancer growing within me. I was angry, it was like that monster in the Lord of the Rings, the Fire and Shadow creature that had stolen Gandalf from Frodo, but instead of pulling a single wizard in I was pulling my friends and family down into that endless pit and I don't think that they'll survive the fall. At least not as my friends anymore.

The bone deep ache radiated up my left leg and pulled me from the darkness back into the real world. Wincing, I messaged the muscles praying for them to loosen and the ache to decrease to bearable tolerance. I pulled the loose sleep pants up to feel the muscles better. The pain started just below the first scar on my calf. It was long and twisted around my leg to vanish just behind the knee.

Tsunade had done a good job of sewing it up so it wasn't a hideous knot of flesh and plastic surgery had done even more wonders on reducing it so that it was now just a thin silvery-white line that wound up my leg. The surgeon had tried to joke by saying that I should get a tattoo of a vine over the wound and no one would even know it was there. I hadn't said a word to the surgeon and he'd dropped it with an embarrassed smile.

A gash high on my thigh had narrowly missed the artery in my leg, even if it had been nicked I would have bled to death in seconds. Tsunade thought that they had tried for it and failed. Morino agreed but had added that who ever it was had left in a hurry so wasn't able to finish the job.

A whimper escaped me as the muscles tightened, contracting into a hard ball of flesh.

I wanted to yell but bit my lip instead and closed my eyes. I was too preoccupied with keeping the scream inside that I didn't hear the door open but at the first touch of hands brushing my ineffective ones away had my eyes shooting open to connect with deep black pools.

"I don't nee--"

"Shut it, apparently you do need someone but are to stubborn to ask." Sasuke's finger dug into the knot and I gasped in air and grabbed onto the comforter underneath me. My eyes rolled up into my head at the agony that he drew from me but he didn't relent until the muscle surrendered its grip on me. A white flag was soon raised as the intense pain subsided to become a more malleable piece of meat. Sasuke didn't quit the message when the pain left but continued to rub my calf and knee.

"Its gone now, you can stop," I muttered relinquishing the grip on the blankets.

"Hn."

I lay back and went about ignoring the man as I stared up at the ceiling. I tried to concentrate on picturing the pine knots as eyes in profiles on the wood instead of the heat coming from strong callused hands that were making the muscles that had been on the verge of a mutiny into docile, purring puddles.

"Tell me about your second year of marriage." Sasuke's voice had lowered and become mesmerizing. I wondered if he used that voice to get suspects to talk because it sure made me want to break into speech.

But I hesitated. The second year had become much worse.

"It started with a planned dinner with his uncle, Orochimaru," I whispered.

I had labeled it the year of learning. Sakon had invited his uncle to join us for dinner on our anniversary. I hadn't argued, I'd stood there nodding agreement as he told me everything he wanted for this dinner. Most of it with French names that I couldn't even begin to understand. He'd given me an impossible mission. What I hadn't understood at the time was that it was the beginning of my lessons in being a good wife to Sakon. Looking back I saw that the first year had been to break my spirit and my mind.

The house was expected to spotless, and the dinner was expected to be on the table promptly at eight. I'd picked everything up and stashed it away, done a quick vacuum job on the main rooms, and dusted them before looking up the dishes that he'd specified on the internet. Boeuf Bourguignon seemed simple enough, Elegant Oyster Soup, Crème BruLee, and h'ordurves. Each recipe was worse than the last and more complicated. I felt my heart stop. There wasn't any way that I would be able to make all of this in the time that was allotted to me.

There wasn't anything for it. Hopefully I could delay the time some with the appetizers. I had four hours.

It started when Sakon walked through the doors at seven. He looked around the house wearing a pleasant smile which fell a little as his eyes stopped on things that I'd missed in my rush to clean before starting dinner. The small wadded up receipt that was tucked under the edge of the couch, a line of dust across the black coffee table…. As his eyes lingered I could see a little more anger surface and I quickly grew more and more nervous.

"How is dinner coming along?"

My heart stopped before hammering in my chest. He was going to lock me up again.

"I—I…i—it will take a l—little l—longer--"

I doubled over as my breath rushed out in one quick whoosh. Sakon's fist buried in my stomach.

"I'm not going to punish you until later, but your work is unacceptable. I gave you a simple list of things to accomplish while I'm out working my ass off to provide for you and I come back to a house that is unclean and a lazy wife." He sneered as he pushed me away from him. I landed on the floor dazed and confused at what I'd done wrong. I could have sworn that I had worked really hard to clean and cook for Sakon and his uncle. Maybe…I was lazy.

Orochimaru came and I eventually was able to serve dinner. The h'ordurves were a little worse for wear, the soup had burnt black specks floated on the surface, the roast was blackened on the outside and raw in the center, and the crème brulee looked more like scrambled soup. Sakon's uncle had looked at the feast a smug smile on his lips before he announced that it was alright because his nephew hadn't married me for my ability to cook, then he looked slyly at Sakon and asked when he would be seeing grandnephews or nieces.

Sakon had smirked. "Soon, Uncle, soon."

Not long after that Orochimaru had stood up, slapped Sakon on the back, and said his good nights. I'd watched as my only escape walked out the door.

I don't remember much about that night. I remembered him grabbing my arm then looking deep into my eyes with a look of enjoyment on his face before he snapped the bones in two.

I woke up in the hospital with my concerned and frightened husband telling the doctors and the nurses that I tripped and fallen down a flight of stairs. I wasn't given the chance to talk to anyone because Sakon never left the room. I had a concussion from the 'fall', as well as the broken arm, and some deep tissue bruising. Sakon played his roll to the hilt and soon the nurses were bringing him treats and hovering over him as he worried about me. I was released with the mild warning to be more careful, I'd nodded, and Sakon had swept me into the car thanking the nurses for their generosity and understanding. If I'd been myself, I probably would have started gagging on all the sweetness he put off.

But my lessons had only just started. Everyday before work, Sakon gave me a lists of things to do as well as meals to prepare by the time he got home and if they weren't done by the time he walked through the doors….Well, there was more than one time that I woke up in a hospital. It was never the same hospital either. I learned to clean quickly, and to double check everything for the hidden traps that Sakon would leave. As for the meals…I learned how to make them by keeping the TV on the food network channel and catching things here and there. I learned to be the perfect Stepford wife to Sakon and the beatings lessened.

But they didn't stop completely. Nor did the birth control. I'd once questioned him about it because his uncle seemed set on seeing little Sakon's running around. Sakon had carefully explained with perfect precision why he didn't want the little bastards messing up his life. He still wanted a career in music and having children would take that away from him, he also didn't want people (women) looking at him and seeing a father instead of the man (playboy, player) he was. He'd also told me that if I did become pregnant the child would be killed and I would never, ever have the possibility of having kids again. I'd religiously, obsessively taken those little pink pills. The next time Orochimaru had asked about children, Sakon had explained that I was barren.

***

I felt the hand still on my leg and I looked at Sasuke startled out of the memories. I thought for a second that the ebony orbs had flashed red in the dimness of the room.

"I'm almost glad that Sakon didn't want children," he mumbled before pulling my other leg into his lap tucking the foot and toes against the heat of his stomach as he pushed the sleep pants up above my knee. His fingers then went on a quest for tight muscles in that calf. My eyes closed and I nearly let out a purr as I felt the ache being rubbed out of that leg as well.

"I _am_ happy that we didn't have children. I wouldn't have been able to stand subjecting them to that man." I wouldn't have been able to protect them nor would I have been able to live if any of my children had to go through what I went through.

"Hn. Kiba and I went to the Academy together," Sasuke said. Distracted I looked up my head tilted to the side and he smirked in satisfaction. He'd accomplished what he wanted. "We even roomed together."

"Oh my god, how the hell did you keep from killing him?" I remembered how Sasuke had threatened numerous times during out growing years that if he had to be in the same room with Kiba for more than five minutes then he was going to murder the dog boy.

"I learned patience."

"Yeah, right!"

"Okay, he learned how to shut up and it helped that I threatened to post that picture of him kissing Akamaru in the lobby, e-mailing it to everyone, and sending it to Hinata."

I knew exactly which picture he was talking about. We'd had a camping trip with Sasuke, me, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru (his dog that he insisted he couldn't leave behind), Lee and Ino. It was the first morning and Sasuke and I had heard mumbling coming from Kiba's tent. We went to investigate and found him mumbling about loving someone then he'd grabbed onto Akamaru and started kissing him. To this day I don't thing that poor dog has recovered and when Kiba goes to sleep, the dog slinks under the table and away from the clutches of his owner. I'd suppressed my laughter long enough to grab Sasuke's camera and snap off a few shots of the boy and the horrified Akamaru. Unable to contain it I'd broke down and woken the shaggy haired boy immediately. He jumped up and tired to grab the camera that was dangling in my grip but Sasuke had stopped him, he'd then been reduced to begging that no one, no one see those pictures. We'd agreed eventually, after we had learned the name of the girl that Kiba was dreaming about. One Hinata Hyuuga, cousin to Neji, and adored daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga, a man that would and could hire ten thugs to kill you and never have the thread traced back to him.

"I can't imagine that shutting him up for long."

"Hn."

Sasuke patted my leg before moving it to the side. "Lets get something to eat."

I thought about it before nodding. My stomach wasn't as tight as it normally was at the thought of food.

We moved from my bedroom and into the kitchen where Sasuke began pulling out a sauce pan, filling it with water and setting it on the stove to boil.

"What are you making?"

I saw the smirk curl his lips before he answered. "Ramen."

"Hn." I haven't had ramen since high school. During college, I'd eaten out a lot or had dinner at Sakon's, one of his friends, or with his uncle. "You hate ramen," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, a couple of weeks ago it started sounding pretty good."

"Um, what about the fact that it has no nutritional value?"

"I can live with the off the charts sodium intake."

I found my lips twitching with an odd urge and my chest tighten as sound slipped past. I chuckled unable to help myself. I looked at the floor as the warm, long forgot, feeling of amusement seeped into me. When I looked up I was met with dark eyes that held an unfathomable expression that I couldn't name and for the first time since I came home Sasuke's lips formed a genuine smile before he turned and continued fixing the ramen.

"Did you know that I used to think that ramen could fix everything?" I asked him.

"Hn."

"I was sure that if the medical community would give it a chance that it would even heal cancer."

"Dobe."

My eyes began to sting and water at the name. Once upon a time a dark haired boy in a sand box had screamed it at a blond haired girl who had growled at him to take it back and tackled said boy to the ground punching him and screaming for him to take it back. It had taken two parents to pull the two apart but as soon as they weren't trying to kill each other they had began struggling in their parents grip. The girl was crying that she was sorry and she didn't mean to dump the bucket that Sasuke had filled. Sasuke had in his Uchiha way accepted the apology and said he was sorry too before the girl had slipped free of her fathers grasp and hugged the boy.

"T—teme…"

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**A/N: I'm sorry, its a short chapter, but I figured it was okay, so that I could update! So..what do you think? **

I have to take a personal moment here...I'm deeply saddened. I've lost a fan...I'm truely sorry, to said fan if I offended you in anyway, and I wish that you were back telling me how much you love the story...I miss your reviews!

**To everyone else who has stuck with me, favorited, and or reviewed! THANK YOU and a shipment of cookies will be arriving on your door step tomorrow! Seriously, though please for the sake of the author's mind (and the story held hostage) please leave a review, or comment! or just read and run its okay as long as the stats keep going up! The more the merrier or so I'm told. Oh, I know...have a party and make your guests read this then force them to review...it would make my poor heart happy (and satisfy the ransom demand!)**

**Thanks everybody!**

**ZEN  
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	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: For those of you just joining us, this Chapter is from Sasuke's POV. I hope you enjoy it...R and R (means Read and Review, not read and run!)  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...though I wouldn't mind sitting in on a couple of session with them as an observer! Just for Research purposes! O.O Really!  
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"T-teme…"

The voice was low and quiet. I almost didn't catch it as I stood drowning noodles in water and adding seasoning, high in sodium, to them. My heart had nearly stopped at the sound of Naruto's laughter. I'd begun to think that I would never hear that sound again nor would I see a genuine smile curving those luscious lips. Nor did I think I would see the sun radiating out of those azure orbs. Even the deepest Sapphires couldn't compete with the blueness of Naruto's eyes, or at least I'd always thought that.

Before I could drop everything I was doing just to hug her, knowing that she would tense up and reject me, I dished up some of the noodles and handed her the bowl. It was taking everything inside of me not to go insane. The rage from what I had learned was burning deep in my heart and on top of that was the anger that some one was harassing her, causing her more hurt. Why the hell couldn't they leave her alone? Hadn't she suffered enough at the hands of that bastard?

The picture brought up questions about what had happened to her. But one answer had come, Naruto's husband was dead. I was left to pray that Naruto's hand hadn't held that knife. But I'd picked up some details from that picture even though the body wasn't around to examine. I also began to pray for Naruto's safety, so far only the pictures had appeared, and I hoped that it stayed that way.

We sat down to companionable silence to eat and I watched Naruto slurp up some of the noodles but way too soon she pushed the bowl away. She smiled but this time the smile stayed on her lip and didn't lighten her eyes. I critically examined what remained in the bowl. She hadn't even eaten half. My lips tightened and I finished my meal.

"How about some ice cream as we watch a movie?" I asked getting up from the table and gathering up the dishes.

"Oh! I—I was going t—"

"'I am Legend' it is then," I stated breaking into the excuses that she would give me to run and hide. She may not have realized it but that was exactly what she was doing. I made up my mind that I was going to force her back into the world. It would take some time and effort, but I resolved myself to the mission at hand.

Opening the freezer I took out a carton of Rocky Road that I'd picked up a few days ago and dished out some into bowl for each of us. I then moved to the air popper and measure in some corn kernels and turned it on. Once the bowl was full I gathered the popcorn and my dish up then looked to Naruto to get her ice cream and follow me.

I took the left side of the couch and plopped the popcorn down in the middle with a nod to the right side. Naruto hesitantly sat and waited for me to turn the movie on.

As we watched Will Smith drive recklessly through the deserted streets of New York, I kept an eye peeled on Naruto as she slowly began to eat the chocolate, marshmallow, and nut confection. Not normally a sweets fanatic, I licked up some of the dark cream. I would do what was necessary to insure that Naruto began to eat regularly and gain weight. As the black man on screen ran through a dark deserted building chasing his dog, I saw Naruto's hand drift over to the popcorn and scoop some out. I wanted to shout with glee and do a little happy dance, but I schooled my features into a stoic mask of indifference and turned my attention fully to what was happening on the TV, a smile of triumph lifting the corners of my mouth.

By the time the movie ended, most of the popcorn and all of the ice cream had been consumed. As I took her dish, Naruto glanced down at it in confusion. If it had been the old Naruto, I would have said something about it, but I remained quiet, both of us still unsure of the relationship that was beginning to develop. I was just glad that she had begun to trust me enough to tell me what had happened. I wanted to push and get the rest of the story but I had seen the hunted look in her eyes and I didn't want to scare my prey away anymore than I had.

Naruto disappeared into her room before I could mention watching another movie. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and quickly dialed.

"Hello?" A low voice answered.

"I need some help," I said, briefly.

****

I spent the next day going through paper work as quickly as possible, then began making my rounds about town. Along with the routine traffic ticket, I ended up at Mrs. Tagarro's. The woman was ninety and she regularly called in about something, today she said that a man was skulking about her bushes. After a brief examination of said bushes where I found nothing, I let her know that who ever it was was gone and probably wouldn't be back.

I then received a call from Jack Nelson who claimed that one of his dogs had been killed. Jack raised black and tan hounds and they raised a ruckus at the drop of the hat. Occasionally one would get loose from the kennels that Jack kept them in and they would go chasing after the livestock that was around. One of the ranchers would then kill it but Jack wouldn't call on that. The dog was lying on it side with no visible sign of injury.

"What makes you say that it was killed, I could have just died of natural causes?" I asked crouching next to the animal.

"It was fine this morning when I fed them. Duke, was always happy to get his morning meal and today was no different. If he had been sick I would have noticed and he wasn't sick," Jack snarled waving his arms. "And the dogs went nuts a little while ago. I thought that perhaps a cat or a stray raccoon had set them off, but now I'm not so sure."

"Hn. I would like you to take it over to the vet and have her do some blood work on the hound. Hana will give me the results as soon as she's done and I'll let you know what happened."

"Sure, Sasuke," Jack said. I started to walk away.

Each incident today, taken alone wouldn't have raise an eye brow, but now my suspicions were growing exponentially. Flipping open my phone I dialed Kiba's cell. He answered on the second ring.

"He'lo," he garbled sounding like he had a full mouth.

"Are you eating?"

"Uh, no."

"Did Naruto eat?"

"Yeah, a little," I heard the guilt and knew how he felt but I had some more important tasks for Kiba.

"I'm almost certain that someone is stalking Naruto, I need you on full alert and making rounds of the house. Make sure that all the doors and windows are locked when you are in the house." He ignored the nearly silent, 'naw, you think,' that Kiba muttered.

"Right, I'll have Hinata bring up Akamaru and he can do some sniffing around and if he senses something he'll let me know."

"Good and quit eating Naruto's meals, and make sure that she eats," I growled then hung up.

"Someone is after Naruto?"

I jerked around to see Jack watching me closely a concerned frown on his face. I nodded but didn't say anymore. I'd forgotten that Jack was there.

"Damn, that girl doesn't deserve anything bad happening to her!"

I was taken off guard by the man's indignation on Naruto's behalf. Furrowing a brow, I looked into the man's eyes and saw genuine worry. I smiled at the man.

"Don't worry, me, Kiba and several others will make sure that nothing happens to her."

"Hmph, it better not. It's kind of funny, I always thought that the two of you would end up together."

"I'm not counting it out yet," I told him.

He was still laughing even as I drove away.

My next stop wasn't planned until I remembered that Tora-chan had babies not to long ago. Stopping at Mrs. Hitoshi's, I knocked politely on the door.

"Oh, Sasuke, what a surprise!" The old woman was quite plump and had dressed up her deep grey hair with ribbons and flowers.

"Mrs. Hitoshi, I'm sorry to disturb you but I was wondering if you still had Tora-chan's babies."

"Oh, yes, Sasuke and you've come at the perfect time. They are ready!" The old woman waved me in and I followed her shuffling footsteps to a small closet. Sliding the door open farther that the crack it had been, revealed several squirming, wriggling bodies. One tumbled out and landed on its back against my shoes. The little black kitten blinked up at me with a curious expression before rolling to its feet and bounding back into the fray of bodies.

With a little smirk, I reached in and scooped him up before he could latch onto a black and white kitten. I held it up so that we were eye to eye to study it. The small kitten studied me back and if I didn't know better I would have said that its little face held a smirk.

"Oh, he's a little darling, usually he's on the sidelines unless that little black and white kitten starts picking on the small orange tabby," Mrs. Hitoshi said.

I looked back down when I felt small claws attach to my pant leg. A bright orange tabby was trying its best to climb my leg. Bending slight, I lifted the tabby into my arms. But the kitten wasn't satisfied with its perch until the other kitten I held was next to it. Then it licked the ear of the black kitten and began purring.

"Oh, dear, I think you will have to take the set. I don't know what will happen if those two are separated. I tried to once and was up all night with both of them yowling until I put them back together."

"That's fine. I think that Naruto wouldn't have it any other way."

Mrs. Hitoshi provided me with a box and I settled them into the passenger seat with a small dish of water and some food along with a small red and blue blanket. The two kittens watched everything with open curiosity before settling down on the blanket and going to sleep snuggled up together.

Shakinng my head, I started the engine and continued on my rounds. A few more traffic stops later and it was time to head home. The kittens were up and systematically search for ways to get out of the box. The little black one had nearly made it with one leap but the smaller tabby was currently trying to dig his way out. I smirked down at them both before shifting my eyes back to the road.

"You just have to wait a little longer, I've got to pick up some food and a liter box at the store then I'll take you to meet Naruto." Out of the corner of my eye I watched the little black kitten wander over to the tabby and swipe at its head before smugly walking over to the blanket and laying down, paw tucked under its little body. The tabby looked around at the swipe then continued its futile digging for a few moments more before bounding around the box, then to his companion and laying down next to it. They didn't sleep but just lay there waiting.

"Hn."

The trip to the store was quick and it wasn't long before I was pulling into the driveway of the cabin. Akamaru was sitting on the porch watching me alertly as I braked to a stop next to Kiba's state issued SUV. The dog bounded down the stair without a sound and up to the truck to sniff at it as I slid from the driven seat and walked around to the passenger side and lifting the box out. Akamaru jumped up planting his huge paws on my chest looked down into the box, which caused the occupants of the box to voice their protests. Akamaru startled dropped back to all fours and back away.

Kiba was standing at the door and could hear the hisses and snarls coming from the box.

"Hey, boss, what have you there?" he asked coming over to peer into the box.

"Chaos in a box," I muttered as I continued walking toward the house. "Grab those other things out of the back and bring them in, will you?"

"Sure."

I walked into the silent house and looked around for Naruto. There wasn't any sign of her. I gently placed the box on the floor and began a room by room search for her. When Kiba came back in I was directed to the room that now housed her studio. I knocked on the door but didn't receive any answer so I opened it.

Naruto stood before a canvas, her shoulder length hair swept back from her face and several streaks of pain adorned the locks, giving testament to her agitation with its waywardness. She was frowning darkly at the canvas in front of her and I stepped to the side to get a better view. It was a half done portrait of a squirrel sitting up holding a nut. The rest of the canvas was heavily coated with black paint and I wondered briefly about it.

"Naruto," I greeted.

She started so violently I thought that I would have to rush forward and save the canvas from toppling but Naruto caught it at the last second and set it to rights. She swung around and for a moment I was subjected to a terrified look before Naruto shut down her expression.

"Damn, it Sasuke do you have to sneak up on me all the time!" Naruto groused before her head fell and her chin met her chest.

"Sorry, I did knock but you didn't answer. Why don't you come out here, I'd like to introduce you to a couple of new roommates." I turned on my heel and quickly left the room before I could hear Naruto protests.

"Teme, what the hell are you talking about?" Naruto's dulcet tones screeched through the doorway after me.

I sauntered back into the living room and waited for Naruto to show. She strode into intent on telling him where he could stick his roommates, I was sure. But she stopped as confusion replaced her determined look.

"Come here," I said and waved her over to the box. Kiba was eyeing it with a long suffering look.

"Man, I'm not so sure about this," Kiba muttered as Naruto approached apprehensively.

I watched Naruto's face as she finally came close enough to see what was in the box. Her looked was replaced with a soft smile as she knelt before the box and reached in. I smirked at Kiba as I heard little cooing sound come from Naruto throat as she picked up the little tabby and held him to her chest.

"Aw, Sasuke they are so cute, where did you get them?" Naruto asked as she tickled the kitten under his chin. I heard a rough purr coming from the kitten's small chest.

"Mrs. Hitoshi's cat, Tora-chan."

"She's still got Tora-chan! Wow, do you remember when she would pay us every other week to find Tora because the cat would run away! I wonder what other poor suckers she's conned into bringing that mangy creature back."

I remembered that job clearly, and I still bore the scars that Tora-chan had inflicted too.

"If I remember right, she's asked Konohamaru Sarutobi and a few of his friends to do it."

"Better them than us," I heard her mutter as she cuddled the kitten a few seconds longer before setting it down outside the box to explore and picking up the black kitten. The little tabby proceeded over to the couch and attempted to climb it only to fall backwards as the blanket it was using slid off of the couch and over top of it. I heard Naruto chuckle at the little kittens antics.

Kiba's sharp intake of breath drew my attention and I looked at him. He stared down at Naruto before looking back up at me. I nodded to reassure him that he wasn't hearing things. Naruto had indeed laughed.

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**A/N: I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! I wasn't sure about adding the kittens, but I thought it would be good therapy for Naruto! Thanks to everyone who Reviewed! I have Sam back and I could just do a happy little dance! Also Thanks to everyone who story alerted, author alerted, and faved!**

**Please leave a review!**

**ZEN  
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	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, I'm sorry! I know that i promised some of you that I would have this chapter out last week! It's been a hell of a week and so busy. Though I did try and write. Well, let get directly to it...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own the rest of you!!!! HeeHeeHee!**

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I stood staring at the stupid squirrel that seemed to be glaring up at me with hostile eyes from the canvas. I'd begun adding the log that he was standing on but had to start and stop each time the brush dipped into the black paint. I moved over to another canvas that I had set up and swiped the brush across the blank canvas. I froze as I stood staring at the white expanse before reaching for the paint again. Soon I was immersed in color and the brush flew across the canvas filling it in rapid but smooth strokes.

I wasn't aware of how much time had passed before I stepped back from the painting but I was surprised that this time the canvas didn't hold any angry whips of the brush.

Instead I blushed then turned away from the portrait and swallowed. I quickly cleanup up my brushes and when I was sure that the paint on the picture wouldn't smear I covered it with an oil cloth.

I quickly left the studio only to run into a hard, warm wall. Startled I looked up into dark fathomless eyes that had been watching me closely for the past several days. My first instinct was to jump back but I paused as hands came up and gently grasped my arms to steady me and to hold me in place for a moment longer. I swallowed hard and felt my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth as it went dry. As was habit, my tongue darted out to lick my lips and increase the moisture in my mouth, but those dark windows dropped to watch the movement and I slowed it down just a bit.

Sasuke stood so close to me that his breath drifted across my face as his eyes shot from my eyes and back to my lips several times before stepping away. My imagination must have been working overtime because I could have sworn that a low groan had come from his chest. It was only as he turned to go back to the other side of the house that I realized that I hadn't been breathing and I gulped in air like a runner after a marathon.

My heart hammered in my chest and a small voice in my head was screaming at me, telling me what an idiot I was for not closing that small distance and settling my lips against his. I quickly imagined a huge sledge hammer over that voice's head and watched as its mouth closed and it gulped before dropping the hammer and squashing her flat. Only to have the squished person hold up a hand with a thumb up to let me know that it was okay and would be back.

I mentally groaned and leaned heavily against the wall as I waited for my composure to slip back out of the closet it had hid in. I wasn't sure where that voice had come from but I distinctly remember it urging me on as I held a spray paint can above Sakura's brand new car with the hot pink paint job. And I had heard it giggling as I painted an advertisement for herpes across both sides of the innocent car. I could recall the hot, burning deep in the pit of my stomach as this imaginary voice roasted an imaginary Sakura over a pit because she'd kissed Sasuke's cheek.

I forcefully pushed the image out of my head and walked calmly, cooling, and with no little amount of stumbling because my knees had turned to rubber into the kitchen for a drink. I stood before the sink and gulped down the cold liquid then started when something bumped up against my foot. The little orange fuzzball was fighting its tail again and from the smug little snarls coming from its throat it was winning. I bent over and scooped the little kitten into my arms and tickled its tummy only to have the blood thirsty monster latch onto my hand with sharp little claws. I smiled slightly as it tried its best to fight my hand and keep it from the soft down like fur of its tender belly.

"Ah, Comet, I don't know what to do," I whispered to him, "I'm so scared most of the time. I know that Sasuke wouldn't do any of those things to me, but...God, I'm so confused. When he's near I want him to touch me, but I'm terrified that he will. My past…I have to tell him but if I do…I don't know if I could take it if he looked at me with disgust." The little kitten was purring in my hands and I snuggled him closer as I took a deep breath to gather my courage and wandered into the living room.

****

Later that night Sasuke drove me into town to work at Jiraiya's. I watched the scenery pass, the flora and fauna giving way to the town's houses. I was deep in thought trying my best to ignore the man beside me.

Sasuke pulled into the parking lot of the bar and up to the front doors. I looked at him in question.

"You go on in and I'll find a place to park," he said with a small smile.

I looked around the parking lot to notice that there were more people here than was usual for a weekday night.

"Thanks," I murmured as I slide from the vehicle then hurried inside.

Utter silence slammed into me like a wall as I entered the bar area of Jiraiya's place.

"No, please, Sakon, please don't!" My voice cried out.

I froze unable to take another step as my vision focused on the TV high in the corner of the bar above the bottles of alcohol. Everything dissolved until it was only me and that TV.

There it was, turned on, and my half naked image shrinking away from the camera. I was dressed in only a white sexless bra and granny panties. My long, blond hair was rumpled and tangled around my face which had begun to swell slightly around the right cheek bone from a slap I'd received.

Wide eyed and despairing, I watched the scene play out on the screen. Tayuya was holding one arm while my husband was holding the other. A syringe was being directed to the arm that Sakon was holding, the needle full of a barbiturate, that I didn't even know the name of, was sliding beneath my skin and a few minutes later I was relaxed, nearly comatose.

Orochimaru, insidious smirk in place, came forward to help Sakon place me on the bed binding my wrists and ankles to the four posters.

"Didn't I tell you that she wouldn't agree to this?" he hissed humorously. His pale, white hand reached out to unclasp the bra and exposing me for the entire audience to see. I remembered the feel of those hands even through the haze of the drug, they'd been cold, freezing and I wanted to shudder with revulsion but my body wouldn't function and my mind kept drifting away.

The hand was now reaching forward to run slowly…

The TV had gone blank as someone hit the off button. I turned to see Jiraiya's enraged gaze looking back at me and I could see the accusation in his eyes. Finally my feet listened to my brain as I whirled around and raced out of the bar hearing Jiraiya shouting my name.

I didn't pay attention to what I was doing or where I was going until I slammed into a very solid obstacle. Shaking I looked up into deep ebony eyes that looked down at me with concerned impassiveness.

"Naruto," Sasuke simply stated. Then looked up as Jiraiya slid to a stop right behind me nearly barreling into us before arresting his chase.

"Oh, fuck," I heard my grandpa exclaim, "Na—Naruto, I don't know how that got in there, I was just turning on the recordings to the football games for the entertainment of tonight's crowd and…and that came on."

My head bowed in shame and I was unable to say anything.

"What came on?" Sasuke demanded.

"I—it looked like a home video, a—a—a video of Naruto participating in group sex."

"Participating?" I whispered and a mirthless laugh left my lips. It was a frightening sound and halted the men in their tracks. "P—pa—participating?" My voice was a little louder. "Did you not notice the syringe that was stuck into my arm? Did…You…See…ME FUCKING PARTICIPATING?!" My voice had risen to near shouting as I turned from Sasuke. "That fucker doped me up with a ruffie in liquid form so that I wouldn't fight him as he let—let…" I couldn't go on. I couldn't voice my shame out loud. I wanted to crawl into a hole and began to look around for one almost desperately.

"The tape." Sasuke held out his hand and Jiraiya handed over a black VHS cassette. Sasuke looked at the harmless item before taking my arm and leading me over to his truck. He literally lifted my unwilling body into the passenger side then went around, getting in on the drivers side.

****

I sat huddled into the corner of the couch, trying my best to disappear as Sasuke watched the rest of the tape. My hands covered my ears so that I couldn't hear and my eyes pressed tightly shut so that I wouldn't see the images I'd tried for so long to forget. Images of Sakon allowing others to use my drugged body.

Once again, my freedom had been taken from me and in front of people I'd grown up with, learned to respect, and who had respected me. In the brief instant that I'd seen the sea of faces, I'd seen the pity, the accusation, and confusion. Even I didn't understand, why, how I could have stayed with Sakon for as long as I did, but every time I'd ran, he'd found me, and dragged me back. I'd hidden but his uncle had resources that I didn't.

A warm hand found mine, brushing it gently before grasping it and pulling it away from my ears. I looked up to see that the TV screen was black and Sasuke was looking at me with an emotionless mask. God, how I hated that mask!

"Hn," he grunted but continued to look at me in expectation.

I remained silent unable to speak for what might come out. I felt a scream clawing at my throat and I pushed it down.

"What was sex like during your marriage?"

"At the beginning it was…." I paused as I tried to find a way to describe it. "During the engagement and even when we were dating, Sakon would pressure me for sex. He claimed that he wanted an affirmation for our love, or he'd say that I was a tease. The Weeding night…okay, I guess. I mean that the sex wasn't spectacular, I didn't hear bells ringing or see fireworks, and most of the time I was left wondering when he'd be finished. Sakon would use sex as a reward. If I was particularly well behaved and docile, then we'd have sex. It wasn't until the second year that he began to use sex as a punishment. If I was able to clean the house and had dinner ready when he got home, the sex was gentle, kind…if I didn't…he'd beat me and then use my bleeding body for his satisfaction." I looked every where but as Sasuke as I spoke. My hands fisted the couch cushions and kept me in place, kept me from jumping up and running from the room, packing my bags, and leaving.

"Tell me about the video."

"It was taken during our third year of marriage. Sakon's uncle, Orochimaru, was beginning to wonder why I wasn't pregnant. Sakon kept telling him that he didn't know why I hadn't gotten pregnant, making excuse after excuse. Then Orochimaru began telling Sakon to get me in to a specialist, to find out if I was barren, or if fertility drugs would work. Sakon kept lying to him. The night the video was taken, Orochimaru invited us to dinner. When we arrived, we found out that he'd invited Tayuya also. Tayuya spent the whole night hanging off of Sakon while Orochimaru made snide comments about not having grandnieces or nephews. Eventually, Sakon told him that I was barren.

"Th—th—they said that since I wasn't a—any g—g—good for h—heirs then I c—c—ould be of u—use d—doing s—something else…" My voice had dropped to a whisper and I couldn't stop stumbling over the words. I swiped a hand through my hair and took a deep breath to calm my thundering heart.

"Everything is a hazy blur but I remember his hands. They were cold and clammy, but smooth like he hadn't done any work ever." I shuddered as blurred images filled my head. "He…he…he…"

"Its okay, you don't have to tell me about it," Sasuke said calmly, his voice low and comforting. I nodded.

"I left the next morning. Sakon went to work and I—I just picked up the keys and left. I came home, drove straight through without stopping. I went to the bar. With my dad being gone, Jiraiya was my only family. I…" I took a breath and let it out on a sigh, "I thought that he would support me, help me obtain a divorce, and just be my family. I wasn't counting on Orochimaru calling him and manipulating him into thinking that I had gone completely insane. Basically he told Jiraiya the true about the situation but manipulated him into thinking that I was making invalid accusations. He said that I wanted a divorce because Sakon and I had a fight, and I'd gone completely off the deep end.

"When I showed up, Jiraiya was in a rage over what I had supposedly done. I tried to tell him the truth, but he believed Orochimaru over me. He told me that I should grow up and take responsibility for my actions and not make hair-brained accusation to get out of a choice that I made.

"I was…flabbergasted at what he'd said and more than a little hurt. But before I could even begin to understand, Sakon and his uncle showed up playing the role of loving, concerned husband who was unjustly hurt but willing to forgive me. They bundled me into the car easily because I was still confused by what had happened. Jiraiya came up before the car drove away. He told me that if I continued with this course of action then I would be dead to him. I overreacted and told him that I didn't care because he was already dead to me.

"First stop on my way back was to a psychiatric hospital where I stayed for a month, which gave credit to the fact that I'd had a nervous break down. When I was released…Sakon was twice as abusive. He told me that if I ever did anything like that again then he would kill me and my grandfather, make it look like a murder suicide. From everything that I learned about my husband's family, I knew that he could do it. Then, he set out to completely ruin any reputation that I'd had. He forced drugs into my system making it easier for…those scenes that you saw to happen. When I fought back, I was beaten and locked up, as long as I didn't need medical attention. A lot of the following year passed in a hazy state of euphoria and pain. At least until seven months ago, when I woke up in the hospital."

I'd finished the nightmare. And I couldn't bring myself to look at him, knowing that disgust would be written across his face, and pity mixed with horror.

Silence over took the room as I waited for Sasuke to reject me, tell me how repulsive I was.

"Naruto…"

_Oh God, here it comes!_

"I can't tell you how strong I think you are."

_Shit, he hat—wait. What?!_

"To have survived such trials, makes you the strongest person in my opinion. You could have broken, but you didn't, you might be a little chipped, but in time that can be fixed. You're not cynical and hateful, like a lot of people might be; you're respectful, concerned for those around you and forgiving. You've forgiven Jiraiya, and me, making you a better person than me."

My head came up and I met his eyes looking for lies. I found truth and acceptance.

"S—sasuke…"

The sound of shattering glass was so loud that I shrieked and ducked. Sasuke was on his feet in an instance and black gun in his hand and pointing at the window. I didn't have a clue where the gun had come from.

"Get down onto the floor and don't move," he hissed at me. I slid from the couch and onto the floor at his feet.

Sasuke slow moved towards the window, gun pointed at the opening in the window. On his way to check it out he paused long enough to pick up the phone, hit the speed dial that called Kiba and relayed instruction for him to get his ass over here yesterday. I watched as he searched the dark outside the house for any movement. I spent an eternity holding my breath and waiting. Finally he lowered the gun and tucked it neatly into the back of his pants.

"I don't see anyone but I'm going outside to check things out. Stay where you are, don't get up until I know that it's safe. God, I can't believe that _you_ would move into a house where every wall has a window!" His voice was soft, but held a little amusement. "Well, I can believe it, but in this situation, it isn't conducive to keeping you safe when people can see you no matter where you are at!"

He disappeared outside and again I was reduced to turning blue. My heart was beating harshly in my chest as I waited for gun fire that would take Sasuke's life away from him.

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**A/N: Okay, I know that I'm always apologizing for the grammer and spelling, but again i'm sorry if there are any atrocious mistakes. I did read through it but i'm not perfect! Please leave a review upon exiting the plane...um...story!**

**ZEN  
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	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Okay, my lovely fans, here is the next installment!**

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I shivered as I waited. Fear clawed at me as I crouched in front of the couch. I felt nausea worming around in my stomach. I swallowed thickly immersed in the silence of the house. I looked around the end of the couch and saw something square not even a foot away.

Slowly I reached out, inching my hand towards the red-brown object with white paper wrapped around it. My fingers touched the rough surface of the brick and I pulled it towards me quickly. The paper was tied onto the brick with a thick piece of twine which I slid off. Unwrapping the paper, I closed my eyes for a brief moment praying for the strength that Sasuke claimed I had. I couldn't feel it but I opened my eyes and looked down at the white parchment.

_Did you like the tape?_

_I thought that your lover should know what a whore you are, slut! I'm looking forward to seeing you broken like you broke your husband, bitch! O. has a library of all the times that you participated in Sakon's games. I swear that O. jacks off at night to them._

_Do you think that your lover will enjoy them just as much as the rest of us do?_

_Will he kill to keep you?_

_Will he die for you?_

_To protect you?_

I swayed where I sat on the floor. My chest hurt unlike anything that I've ever felt previously. I'd brought danger into the lives of my precious people. _I_ was going to get them killed. If that happened then I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

My jaw clenched as I pushed to my feet, ignoring the voice in my head that was insisting that I listen to Sasuke. I darted into my room and began throwing clothes into the suitcase that I'd brought. I didn't sort or fold anything just tossed and shoved until it was a mess of color.

I wanted to take a shower, because I felt so dirty, so unworthy, but I was overwhelmed with the need to get away as quickly as possible.

"What are you doing?"

I whirled around and saw Sasuke frowning at the suitcase from the doorway. He stalked into the room looking more like a predator that ever before. He was graceful, lean, and masculine and he was heading straight for me with purpose.

"I thought I told you to stay put. But as soon as my back is turned, you ignore me." That voice was hard and impatient. I've never heard that tone before when Sasuke talked to me. Sure I've heard it when he spoke with others, especially the boys that would pick on my during our childhood, but never directed at me. I gulped because I could clearly see why those boys had backed down. It also shot a thrill down my spine as I listened to the danger in it.

"I—I can't stay here. I'm putting you in danger, and everyone else! I—I have to go. I have to keep you saf—"

"You have to quit acting like an ursatonkachi!" Sasuke grasped my shoulders and gave me a slight shake. "Where are you going to go?"

"I—I don't know. I guess I'll go home," I whispered trying not to gasp at the heat that was scorching my skin through the shirt where Sasuke's hands rested.

"What are you going to do to protect yourself?"

"I—I don't know…" My voice was almost unheard in the room.

"Do you know who is after you? How are you going to survive? What—"

"I DON'T KNOW! God damn it, Sasuke, I don't know! All I know is that I wouldn't be able to live knowing that I hurt you!" I shouted at him. I gasped and tried to take a step back expecting to be punched. I instinctively flinched away from Sasuke but he wouldn't allow it.

When the hit didn't come I peeked up at him. He was still looking at me with that hard expression but it had softened at the edges. His eyes seemed to sparkle with a light that I couldn't name.

"Well, I have a suggestion. Stay here. We'll protect you and we will survive doing so because I have certain goals that I wish to complete and I'm not going to die until they are." He reached out and wrapped his hand around the back on my neck and pulled me closer. "This is where you belong. Here. Your precious people want to protect you, they deserve to protect you." His voice dropped to a lower tone with less harshness. "Because I know that our light, our sun, will go out if anything happens to you." I felt the cotton from his shirt against my cheek as he held me against his shoulder. I inhaled the clean scent of him along with a hint of pine from when he was outside. He must have brushed against a tree. I rested my cheek against his shoulder and absorbed the warmth and strength that he provided.

"Sasuke...Oh!" Kiba's voice roared from doorway.

I stepped away from him and watched as Sasuke turned to glare at the poor guy who was looking between the two of us with a knowing look. I did my best to glare at the man with all the grace of an Uchiha until he motioned towards the living room.

"Um, I'll just go back out here. Uh, you two continue what you are doing…just ignore the broken window, the brick and note, and the fact that someone is trying to hurt Naruto." Kiba grinned at them then disappeared back from whence he came.

I heard Sasuke take a deep breath and mutter something about neutering the dog boy in his sleep before he turned back to me.

"Unfortunately, he is correct. We've got work to do," his dark fathomless eyes drilled into mine. "I expect you to still be here when I get back"

I rolled my eyes and frowned at him with all my worth. I wanted to rebel now that he had given a command.

"Please, Naruto, now I'm asking that you stay here until I get back. We still need to talk and I need to know that you are safe." He walked to the windows, closed the blinds, and then the drapes. "And please put your clothes back, and don't walk in front of the curtains because the shadow will give away your location and if this guy is serious in wanting to hurt, you he may have a high powered rifle and could shoot you from a distance." With those instructions he left me standing next to my bed.

****

I was back on the couch with a throw wrapped tightly around my cold form. Sasuke was talking quietly with Kiba next to the door so that I wouldn't be able to hear what he had said. I didn't need to know the conversation to know that they hadn't found anything outside. Whoever it was had come and gone without a trace of evidence to say that they had been there, except for the note, the smashed window, and the fear that they had left behind.

The two had patched the window as best they could. Sasuke had said that he would call someone over tomorrow to put in a new one.

The kittens were creeping out from where ever it was they had disappeared to when the loud noise had startled them. The sniffed at the carpet and gingerly made their way over to me so that I could pick them up and comfort them. The snuggled into my arms and swatted at a stray strand of hair that had fallen forward.

"Okay, thanks for your help, Kiba, I'll fill out that report while I'm at work so you don't need to worry about it."

"Sure thing, boss. I know that Hinata will appreciate me coming straight home."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night!"

The door closed behind me as Kiba left and I hear the light footsteps of Sasuke as he approached the couch. I glanced up at him then returned my attention to the blank TV screen.

"Naruto, I want you to pack some clothes for a few days."

"Why?" I looked up at him again as he came to stand in front of me.

"I think a change in location would be prudent and the sooner the better. I'm guessing that this person has retreated for now, but with this latest incident I think that he's beginning to escalate. I don't know when or where the next incident will occur but with the pattern that's beginning to rise, I think that it might even be physical. I will not allow him to get close enough to cause you harm." The hard tone in Sasuke's voice belied the anger that he was feeling and Naruto shivered in reaction. Sasuke softened his voice but it was no less hard. "Please, gather some clothes and come with me."

I nodded then stood. I entered my room and looked at the disaster that was still laid out on my bed. I hadn't put the clothes away because I was still unsure of whether I would stay. But I was willing to give it a little time. I pulled out a few things from the jumbled heap and stuffed them into a duffle before going back to the living room to see Sasuke standing, facing the fireplace, with his hand in his pocket looking like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

"I'm ready, Atlas," I said breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Hardly Atlas," he responded taking the duffle from me and leading me out to his truck. The kittens had been safely packed into a cat carrier. "But its better than being Prometheus."

"I don't know. He did give man fire before Zeus chained him to a rock. So he was a hero."

Sasuke tossed the duffle into the back of the truck and the carrier into the space between us then moved so that I could get in. He didn't make any reply but the smirk was firmly in place.

The drive to his place was accomplished in silence. I didn't have much to speak about and my thought were occupied with what had happened tonight. Sasuke pulled up to a large sprawling ranch house.

"Wow!" I commented. "I didn't think that being a sheriff in a small town would pay so well."

"Hn. It has its benefits though this was bought and paid for by some investments that I've made over the years."

"Couldn't get away from the family business after all?"

"No."

"You should all just change their names to Midas, because everything you guys look at just turns to gold."

Sasuke gave me a tour of the house and it not only looked huge from the outside, it was. There were five suites each with its own bathroom, sitting room, bedroom and walk in closet; a formal living room led to a family/theater room; the kitchen was homey but up-to-date with matte finished stainless steel appliances, and one wall was taken up by a large fireplace along with an informal sitting area; the dining room was classic design with a long table and enough seating for ten people; there was also a study/library, game room with bar, and off to the side of the house an enclosed, heated swimming pool. He informed me that most of the house wasn't used since he preferred to spend his free time reading in the study/library. A house keeper came once a week to clean and keep the unused rooms dust free but he seldom had company over.

"Not even Kiba?"

"Hn."

"But you're coworkers, surely you guys hang out, have weekend barbeques, enjoy a game of poker with the guys…"

"Do you really see me knocking back a cold one and laughing with Neji, Kiba, Lee, and Shikamaru?"

I blinked at the foreign image that he had just conjured and nearly spluttered out a laugh. He was right, the Sasuke that I knew was an antisocial bastard who liked to read, listen to classical music, and occasionally solve a crossword puzzle (in five point two seconds no less).

He led me to one of the five suites and dropped the duffle that I had packed onto the dark blue coverlet.

"I'm just across the hall so if you need anything don't hesitate to knock. Its gotten quite late so lets go ahead and call it a night," he stated.

I nodded, simply because I couldn't come up with a good argument. I was very tired but I knew that I wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. And I wasn't going to keep him up just so that I could have company. He needed to be well rested in order to perform his job alertly and safely.

Sasuke nodded with a look that said he knew exactly what I was going to do and disapproved, but there wasn't much he could do short of drugging me. He would do it but only as a last resort, first he would exhaust every other option first. He was frowning as he left.

I released the kittens from their carrier and allowed them to wander the room, exploring their new surroundings but it wasn't long before the two were curled up together on the corner of the bed exhausted from the mini wrestling match and a game of tag.

I sat took out the small sketch book that I had tossed in along with one of the charcoal pencils then sat down in the cushy leather chair in the sitting room and started to sketch. Before long the outline of Sasuke's face appeared long with his patented smirk. As I studied the drawing I made a realization, the smirk wasn't the normal one that he gave everyone else, but it was softer, more humorous…more of the smirk he gave to me.

I flipped the page and then just stared down at the blank sheet.

He'd hugged me earlier. I'd been expecting to be hit. I'd been prepared for it but instead Sasuke had pulled me into his arms and hugged me. No one had touched be in such an intimate fashion since…

As I looked down at that sheet of paper I analyzed how I felt about it. I'd been stiff because of the unexpected move but I had also felt secure, safe, warm…and turned on. I blinked at the thought. My eyes widened. I'd wanted to hold onto him tightly and stay like that forever, but at the same time I wanted more.

This time when I started sketching the lines were slowly drawn as if I was waking up.

****

I was standing in the back yard of Shikamaru's watching as Kiba tossed a ball for Akamaru. Shika was standing by my side with his arms folded and looking at the sky.

"Shika, is it…" my voice trailed off as I tried to think of how to put the question that had been on my mind since the night before.

"Is it…? What?" he asked.

I felt heat coloring my cheeks as I asked, "is it normal for me to feel attracted to Sasuke? I mean after all that I've been through.

"Hmm, troublesome."

"You always say that. If it was so troublesome why do you even bother to answer?"

He rolled his eyes before taking a seat at the small glass table then motioning me to sit. "Naruto, you always have to take the more annoying, and hardest path. It's Sasuke that you're talking about. He's your best friend, and the one that you know the most about. You also trust him above anyone else. It's only natural that you open up to him the most, that if you are going to get back into a relationship then it would be with him."

"But I don't want to get into a relationship with anyone."

"Whether you want to or not doesn't matter when we are talking about the heart. As troublesome as it is the heart is an unstoppable force that leads us to do some of the most annoying things, like fall in love. If we are completely honest, then I would say that you've always loved Sasuke."

"But I thought that I love my husband too."

"Do you still love him?"

"Well, no but…"

"I would even go so far as to say that Sasuke is the other half of your soul." Shika shook his head. "Some people would theorize that if you were reincarnated for several lives then you would always find each other. And if you didn't, then you would spend your life without love and even be miserable. Sasuke is like that for you. You aren't truly happy unless you're with him."

I sat fighting the tears when Temari came up behind us and swatted Shikamaru on the back of the head. Then I heard him mutter under his breath, "The heart wants what the heart wants even if it doesn't make sense." He stood then grabbed Temari around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. I laughed as she shrieked at him to put her down while Akamaru was jumping up to lick her face.

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**A/N: AH! Another litte talk with out resident genius Shikamaru! I'm sorry that the updates are so slow, normally I can do two in a week, but with the job and everything...okay, I admit it, I'm being lazy. I've been reading more than I've been writing. GOMEN! and it doesn't look like things are going to get any faster even though I've admitted to my laziness!**

**Well, I hope that you liked this latest chapter! Please leave a review and let me know! I'll see you guys on the flip side!**

**ZEN**

**P.S. Oh and please ignore the little grammar errors. I know they are there, but I just don't feel like going back and correcting them...maybe int he future!  
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	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'll make this quick, sorry for the delay! This Chapter is dedicated to ALL my loyal fans!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters....Now on with the story!**

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"So," I said as I approached Sakura outside of the park. It was my normal therapy session and Sakura had asked me to meet her here. "Why are we here?"

"I thought that it would be good to get out of the boring office atmosphere and at the same time see how far we can get at a normal walk!" She was smiling brightly, her emerald green eyes sparkling.

I was immediately suspicious. "Hn." Perhaps I was also spending way too much time around Sasuke. His bad habits were starting to rub off on me.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Kiba asked from just behind my shoulder. Akamaru stood next to us with his head cocked. Since we were at the park, Kiba decided to bring his dog so that the poor beast could get some much needed exercise. The dog didn't get much of it from being cooped up most of the day.

"We should be fine," Sakura said confidently before turning and walking away towards an easy foot path through the trees.

Kiba and I looked at each other, shrugged, then followed the pink haired woman.

I really didn't mind the walk. I loved being outside and today was especially nice. A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees and the sun was shining brightly. It was neither too hot, nor too chilly…I would say it was just right.

I kept up easily with Kiba and Sakura until about the half mile point and then my leg started to ache fiercely. I slowed a bit causing both of my companions to look at me in concern, but I kept the pain from showing on my face. My hands were hidden by the long sleeves of the flannel shirt I was wearing and so they didn't see the clenched fists that I was making. I forced my legs forward trying to ignore the burn that had started in my left thigh.

By the mile point I was panting slightly and I had to stop.

"Oh! This is better than I expected!" Sakura gushed in enthusiasm. I gave her a stony look wondering if she had been around Lee too long. I swore if she started spouting anything about youth, I was going to turn her into the Sate Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

"Hn." I muttered in between pants. I hobbled over to a bench beneath a tree and sat down on it. Sakura was immediately there and her warm hands began to message the tight muscles. A frown soon appearing on her face.

"Naruto, how long have you been in pain?"

"Why?"

"Because I think you've over done it a bit. These muscles are way to tight." She glared at me in disapproval. "You just gritted you teeth and bore it, didn't you? Pushed yourself way past the limit like normal. Don't you know that if you push too hard, too fast then you just make the damage worst?"

"I think you've mentioned it a few times. But it's my body, I should be able to know when I've gone too far."

"Can you walk back to the car?" Sakura asked with a slight tilt of her head.

I remained silent, she had made her point.

"Come on." She motioned for Kiba and they both helped me to my feet. Taking up a post on either side of me, they pulled my arms around their necks and began to half carry me back to the park entrance.

****

Once back at Sasuke's house, Kiba and Akamaru settled onto the sofa in front of the large TV and turned it on. I barely made it to one of the chairs and dropped into it with a wince, intent on ignoring the fire that race through the muscles of my legs.

The kittens darted across the room only to slide to a halt, and arch their backs when they spied the dog resting with his head on Kiba's lap. Comet, the orange fuzzball, started a sideways walk as he approached the foreign animal. Getting close enough so that he could reach out his nose, he sniffed at the white tail that was hanging over the side of the couch. A low growl sounded in his throat, just before he ruined it with a loud sneeze that knocked him off his feet. He tumbled over then darted back to report to the black kitten, Raven.

I pulled out my sketch book and began a series of rapid drawings. The first was Kiba and Akamaru on the couch, then the next was of the kittens and their antics. Or at least Comet's antics. He would dart towards the dog that was deliberately ignoring the kitten, then back to his companion looking over his shoulder to see if the dog was taking the bait. A comical look of disgruntlement clear on the kitten's face. Raven reached out at one point and batted at the others head as if to say 'Knock it off, stupid.' Only to be tackled by said kitten. Then the two started a mini-wrestling match.

Akamaru sat up enough to watch the dueling pair in a regal fashion until they fell asleep midway through their games. Then he too dozed off.

I finished making adjustment to the sketches before closing the book and then settling onto one of the other chairs closer to Kiba.

"Hey, Naruto?" Kiba began.

"Yeah."

"Do you remember that time when you, me, and Sasuke snuck out of our houses?"

"Which time?"

Kiba snickered. There had been more than one such occasion. "I think it was the first time. Itachi had told us about snipe hunting and you were so excited."

"I wasn't the only one," I defended.

"Yeah, well, we ended up making plans to go see if we could be the first ones to ever catch a real snipe. And Sasuke only came along to make sure that we didn't do anything stupid."

"Hn, that's the excuse that he gave but I really think he wanted to catch a snipe too. Deidara said that we had to make these funny duck noises, and Itachi said that we needed to have a couple of burlap bags so that we could catch them and put the snipes in them."

"Yeah, they told us that we had to find the place where the brush was the thickest, because snipes liked to hide in it."

I began to giggle thinking back on it. "We spent hours combing the thickest parts of the brush but didn't find a single snipe."

"Yeah, then Sasuke got angry and told us that we needed to get back before someone realized that we were missing."

"Yeah, but little did we know that Itachi was a snitch and had ratted us out."

"Wasn't it your dad that found us?"

The thought of my dad sobered me. I nodded. "He was so mad that he yelled at us. He'd never yelled, but that time he did."

"I've never been so scared. I nearly peed myself."

"You did pee yourself."

The both of us jumped then turned to face Sasuke who walked into the living room.

"Hey! I did not!"

"Could have fooled me. It took you three weeks to come near Naruto's house again."

"Yeah, well…I…" Kiba stuttered to a halt.

"Yeah, didn't it take us that long to gather up enough courage to sneak out again?" I asked.

Kiba snickered. "Yep, we went cow tipping that time. Itachi told us how fun it was when he and Kisame did it."

"There were a lot of thing that we did because Itachi told us how fun it was." I grinned. "Oh, Sasuke, I haven't asked. How are Itachi and your parents? Gosh, I feel so selfish being caught up in my own worries."

"Itachi is having the time of his life making the people that work for him miserable. And my parents are retired. Mom talked Dad into taking her around the world to see the sights. And you aren't selfish."

We spent a few more minutes in conversation until Kiba said that he needed to get home. "Hinata, will kill me if I get home late tonight, she said something about having a special dinner planned." Kiba left with Akamaru following him out the door, giving the still sleeping kittens a wide berth.

I yawned heavily before standing up. "Hey, I'm hungry. Do you want to have stir fry tonight?"

"Naruto, you don't have to cook for me." Sasuke caught my hand before I could get past him.

"It's a-alright, I want too." I hoped that the little stumble didn't give me away. My heart had sped up and my breath wanted to catch in my throat. Sasuke hand was warm against mine and little shots of electricity were making their way into my stomach causing the muscles to clench.

Sasuke slowly let my hand go with a lingering brush that stretched out until only the tips of our fingers touched before dropping away. I quickly made my way to the kitchen and out of eye sight before I closed my eyes and tried to regain some of the calm that I'd had before. Everyday it seemed to be getting worse. There were times when I wanted to jump him and knock him to the floor so that I can have my wicked way with him and others where I wanted to run as far from him as possible…but those times seemed to be getting fewer and fewer.

****

Sitting on the sofa in front of the blank TV, I tried to immerse myself into a book. I was ignoring the man whose house I was currently occupying. Or at least I was trying to. He'd wandered into his room after dinner with a muttered 'Taking a shower'. My mind had gone directly to images of him without clothes, water sluicing down wide shoulders, clearly defined chest muscles, rock hard abs, and lower. I could feel the heat burning in my cheeks and knew that I resembled a tomato. I was so glad that he wasn't in the room with me.

I heard the door open and tried to appear totally involved with the book that was on my lap.

"It might help," Sasuke said from just beyond my shoulder, "if you turned it right side up."

I blinked. "Oh, right." I quickly corrected the problem and looked up. I froze.

Sasuke had come around the couch and was standing before me now. He wore a white t-shirt that clung damply to his torso. I'd clearly done him an injustice in my imagination. Jeans hung low on his hips and the t-shirt was tucked invitingly into the waist band. The denim hugged thick thighs and detailed the toned muscles.

I swallowed thickly and disregarded the way my hands itched to touch that solid body.

"Naruto," Sasuke said and I looked up at him. A low groan escaped his lips as he caught sight of the lust that was clear in my eyes. He moved to kneel in front of me and warm hands wrapped around my ankles.

My heart stuttered to a halt in my chest then began its infamous thundering that filled my ears. I was sure that he could hear it knocking against my ribs.

He didn't make any further moves except for his thumbs tracing circles around the small ankle bones. I trembled at the touch unable to move away and yet terrified that he was going to do more. I wasn't ready…I didn't think that I would ever be ready. I could do little more than watch him; stare into hot, obsidian eyes. I was pulled into the whirlpool that spun there and couldn't look away even if I drowned.

He picked up my left foot and placed it in his lap. If I arched my foot, pointed the toes, I could press against him intimately, but I wasn't brave enough to be that forward. His lips were tightly held together but he slowly began to message the ankle. My lips parted and his eyes broke contact with mine to focus on them.

His fingers inched higher until they encompassed my calf. I barely registered the ache that remained so distracted was I by him.

"Sakura told me that you over did it today," he murmured, his voice low and caused my stomach to clench in a sweet way.

"Yeah, a little." The naturally rough tones of my voice had become huskier. I watched as his eyes lowered to half mast as he continued to observe me.

"Do you want me…to stop?" The hesitation had caused my breath to cease for the second that it took to finish the sentence.

Confusion warred in me. I didn't want him to stop but at the same time I did. I wanted to forget my past but it kept getting in the way. I wanted to be with him and terrified that he would continue despite my wishes. Wishing that I could be what he wanted, I nodded unsure which part of the question I was answering.

A gentle smile appeared and he withdrew his hands from around my calf, lingering just a second more than he should. But he didn't push my foot from his lap. If I wanted to move it then I would have to do it myself. He watched my eyes shift through the confusion even as I lifted my foot away from him.

Unable to stay in the room, I stood. Ignoring how close certain parts of my body were to his, I stepped away. I fled to my room and closed the door on temptation. Then dropped to my bed where I breathed in and out harshly, trying to regain control of my racing heart, lungs that couldn't get enough air, and most of all a body that sought to betray me.

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**A/N: Short chapter, sorry! But I wanted to get a little teaser in there! I hope that you liked the chapter because more trauma on the way... I'm not sure if I will give you a complete lemon, or if I will move the story along and reach the excitement! I hope also, that I didn't push this too quickly but if Sasuke doesn't make his move then he might never get the chance! HEE! Hee! hee!**

**Please leave a review and I hope that I can get another chapter out sooner that this last one!**

**ZEN**

**P.S. I did try to do a better job of proofreading this! :) I probably missed a few things and I hope that the words don't clash too much in places! CedarKuruQan, if you are still reading this, thanks for the critiques, I will try to keep them in mind!  
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	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ah, Ha! I've updated...still have lots planned so on with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is mine, HAHAHAHA! *runs away with fake* Wait what?! Hey, you're not Naruto! Darn it! I still don't own Naruto. :(**

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A week had past and nothing further happened. No mysterious packages, no intimacies…Nothing. I was beginning to think that this whole thing had past. And I tried to ignore the disappointment that produced a small ache in my heart.

I woke up slowly this morning snuggling under the covers and straightening my feet only to have the pounced upon by a small orange bundle of fur. Needle sharp claws digging into the covers and trying to capture the moving thing underneath. Raven sat stoically near my head observing the kitten and movement with ear pricked forward. His little body twitched, wanting to join in the play but not wanting to appear undignified. I slowly reached up unobserved by the little creature until my hand touched his body and he jumped a small hiss escaping. I giggled as he gave me a disgruntled look.

I threw back the blanket covering up Comet who immediately meowed plaintively and tried to find his was out from under them. I had a new resolve today. I was going to visit everyone today!

Dressing carefully in a white sundress that was covered in a light design of orange flowers, I slid my feet into strappy flats, the straps matched the orange color on the dress. I brushed my hair then clipped it away from my face. As I stepped out of the bedroom, I saw Kiba sitting on the couch, TV turned onto one of those home decorating shows.

"So you like the interior design shows?" I asked coming around the couch.

"Yeah, Hinata got me hooked when I was sick…" His voice trailed off as he caught sight of me then a low whistle took its place. "Wow, Naruto, you look…hot!"

I blushed slight them the swatted at him. "Careful or I'll tell Hinata that you were checking me out."

"So what has you all dressed up?"

"I'm going to visit with everyone today."

Kiba arched his brow. "Fine, let's get goin'. Who's the first stop?"

Naruto smiled sadly. "My dad."

Kiba looked startled then nodded solemnly.

****

The cemetery was situated on the top of a hill overlooking the town. Trees were scattered around the graves and the paved path ran in a circle around the outer edge. Kiba parked and I slid out of the vehicle. I paused and looked around in confusion. I didn't know where he was buried.

Kiba came to my rescue. "Come on." Lead the way through the markers and I followed closely behind. He stopped before a dark grey stone then moved away. Not far just enough to give me some semblance of privacy.

I looked down at the gravestone memorizing it just as I had memorized the path to it. It was about two feet high. A pair of boots were engraved on one side of the inscription and on the other side a police cap and gloves. These were the symbols of his job as well as his passion. Down the center was his name, Minato Namikaze. Under it was the dates of his birth and death, then, 'Hero to many, he will be missed'.

I knelt before the grave and traced the words with tembling fingers. Tears fell unnoticed as the sorrow that I had suppressed for so long emerged.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I whispered. "I wanted to see you one more time." I thought back to that day.

Sakon had been vicious the night before. I ran, but he'd caught up to me. Lying in the hospital bed, Sakon had taken great pleasure in telling me that my dad had died. The internal injuries that I had sustained (from a hiking accident my loving husband had informed the staff) had kept me from attending the funeral and afterwards Sakon wouldn't let me go home.

I pulled out a small blue crystal that was threaded onto a leather thong, two ebony stones where on either side of it. I'd had a special case made for it so that it didn't get broken from weatherization. I placed the small case onto the concrete block that the gravestone was set into.

It had been a necklace that he'd given to me on my sixteenth birthday. It had been my mother's. I glanced at the grave next to him; at least they had buried him next to her. Kushina Uzumaki. They hadn't married which is how I ended up with my mother's last name. It had been a one night stand, a moment of passion, Dad had said. That night they had been in one of the worst situations, and the two had reaffirmed that they were alive by being together.

Memories surfaced. My dad taking me to my first museum and showing me my first paintings done by the masters over the centuries. Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile. The sunflowers which had immediately became my favorite because they were so bright. The Stroll by Monet. I wanted to be the woman in the white dress. And many, many more had made an impression on me which was why I wanted to be an artist in the first place. It was just the low grades that made me pick it as a major.

I remembered the warmth of holding his hand as we walked through the huge rooms. How I hid behind his legs when we had stood before T-rex. I remembered being lifted onto powerful shoulders so that I could touch the wing of the Wright brothers' plane.

Those memories shifted to others. The scowl on his face when Sasuke had picked me up for prom. His grin as he flipped burger on the grill and talked to Jiraiya. The solemn look when he'd told us about the cancer. I felt the safety of the hugs he used to give me, the love in the gentle kiss he laid on my forehead when I awoke from a nightmare.

"Dad…" I whispered, "I miss you so much. I feel so lost most of the time. God, I screwed things up so royally." I ended up nearly folded in two as I bent double to try and contain the sorrow that flooded me. Regret pounded in my head.

Soon I felt warm arms enfold me and I looked up to see Kiba had knelt beside me.

"He loved you very much, Naruto. He used to come to the bar and we'd sit and talk about you all the time. He was so proud of you."

"How could he have been?" Raw anger thrust the sorrow aside and I pushed Kiba away harshly. Coming to my feet I stood over him with my fist clenched. "How could he have been proud of me?" I yelled. "God, Kiba, I married a man that beat me! Tortured me! I'm a total screw up and loser! A…a…" _Dobe._

"No, Naruto," Kiba said getting to his feet and facing me. "You are one of the bravest people that I have ever met. Most people run away and hide, but here you are facing your past, facing your demons. Your father knew. Somehow he knew what was going on even if he really didn't. When he sent into the hospital, I asked him if you were coming home. He said that you were lost, pulled into darkness but he had ever bit of faith that you would find the light again."

I gasped at those words and the world blurred before me. My arms wrapped around my middle and I sank to the ground once again. Why? Why didn't I tell him? I'd known that he would have helped me. Then I answered my own questions. Because I was ashamed. I was ashamed to face him, to let him know how much I had messed up. I'd also had been determined to make things right, somehow, on my own. If I could do that then I would have been able to come home and look him in the eyes. I would have made him proud.

"Naruto," Kiba began, "I'm not Shikamaru with genius up my ass but one thing I know is that no matter what happened, Minato would have still loved you. You could rob a bank and he would have been proud that you had been able to pull it off. Hell, you could even have kidnapped the Queen of England, and your dad would have boasted about it to us back here at home. There isn't anything in your past that would make him ashamed of you, and if anything, what you have survived has only made you a stronger and a more worthy person in his eyes."

"Kiba…" my searching gaze found his and in turn I saw only truth in his eyes. "I…..Thank you." I paused for a moment, then, "Even if you aren't Shika you still have your moments of genius."

"Aw, shucks ma'am," Kiba said with a tint of pink to his cheeks and in his best western drawl.

"I'm not playing Cowboys and Indians with you," I muttered as I turned back to the grave.

"What? Hey, why not?"

"Because the last time we played I broke my arm."

"That's because…"

****

I looked up at the glass and wood confection that was Shino's house. I was surprised at the very modern building, only because if I remembered correctly Shino had been voted the one most likely to live in a cave when he grew up. I smiled at the structure and felt myself begin to bounce as I made my way up the steps toward the front door. I was very eager to see the inside.

Shino greeted us even before I had a chance to ring the doorbell. I looked up startled into sunglass covered eyes and the pale face. His hair was hidden under the dark hoodie and I couldn't help but take a step back. Sure I had seen him at the Welcome home party, then again at the impromptu gathering when the photo had been delivered. But I clearly hadn't been paying attention to this man.

"Um…are you trying to remain incognito?" I asked.

"No," came the monotone voice. Yep, it was Shino; the only time his voice changed in pitch was when he was discussing his bugs.

"Uh-huh, so I was in the neighborhood and thought that I would just stop in and say 'Hi'," I said unable to think of a real excuse. I was never really that close to the guy in high school but because he was Kiba's and Hinata's friend I really wanted to make an effort to get to know him.

Shino said nothing but just stared at me for a few seconds before stepping back and letting us in. Kiba smiled as he passed and I took a good look around. I was astonished to see that the setting was a normal living room. Couch, loveseat, coffee table, two end tables, lamps, rug, and a nice fireplace.

"Wow, this place looks wonderful!" I exclaimed.

"You sound like you were expecting the bat cave," Shino stated. He began to walk deeper into the house and Kiba followed, so I naturally followed him. Shino led us to a set of stairs that led downward towards a basement and a door at the bottom.

Apprehensively, I followed the two men into the room at the bottom and nearly gasped.

"Is this more with what you were expecting?"

What we had entered wasn't a room at all but the beginnings of a cave. The walls were dry though and the ground covered with sand. Shino moved through the passage that continued to slope downwards and we entered a huge cavern. Shino had installed electrical circuitry throughout the cavern so that it was lit up. Along one wall was a bank of computers, and then there were glass cases and glass cases set up in rows. Holy Grasshoppers, Batman!

Shino strode over to a table that held another glass case and began to write on a pad that was set up. Every once in a while he would hold up a magnifying glass to the case or he would take a pair of tweezers and pull a bug out and place it under the microscope that was set up next to the pad. Kiba grinned down at me as I looked around in wonder and more than a little apprehension.

"He's been collecting bugs since we were four. His family is really into insects and its only been in the last few years that the world has gained such a vast knowledge of the insect world and its all because of Shino here." Kiba boasted because I knew that Shino wouldn't say a world about his accomplishments.

"I knew that Shino went into entomology but I had no idea," I muttered as I approached a case that held two large beetles, one was around two inches in length and the other was more like four inches. I'm sure that my mouth dropped slightly at the size of the insects. "It's huge."

"It's an African Goliath Beetle, Goliathus from the Scarabaeidae family. They are one of the largest beetles in the world."

I jumped then looked over my shoulder to see Shino was standing a couple of inches from me. I sidled to the side in order to put some distance between us. "Really?" I asked.

"Yes."

"That's interesting."

Shino remained quite but cocked his head to the side as if he was studying me. I smiled at him hoping to relieve some of the tension that had entered the atmosphere. Then I was appalled to see Shino's lips quirk up in a semblance of a smile.

"You remind me of a praying mantis."

"Why is that?" Frowning, I wondered if he was making a reference to my missing, presumed dead husband.

"They are a very elegant creature, very adaptable." He said. Then turned his back on me and went back to the table.

I decided it was time to escape the creepy factory. "Well, Shino, it's been very interesting talking with you…but I promised Ino and Chouji that I would stop by today," I said in the way of an excuse.

Shino nodded but didn't look up from his research.

Back in the car, I looked at Kiba. "You were strangely quiet back there."

"I've learned not to interrupt Shino during his research."

"Well, you could have told me that," I grumped and looked out the window.

****

Ino's and Chouji's house smelled wonderful! Even as we pulled into the driveway, my mouth was watering. I saw several kids sitting on the curb looking longingly at the small cottage. Flower's abounded all around the scene and I was sure that when the lights lit it up in the night it would look exactly like a Thomas Kincaid painting. It even had the adorable, cozy, white picket fence. Sugar and chocolate was wafting through the air and I had to lift my nose to it along with several smaller button noses.

"Chouji's working again," Kiba muttered. I looked and saw him swallowing convulsively so that he didn't start leaking drool like Akamaru.

"What do you mean?"

"Before Chouji puts an item on his menu, he perfects it here. And everyone for miles will stop by to either smell or in hope that he provides samples of the treat. He tells me that he can't have the best bakery for miles around without having the best pastries, candies, and breads for miles around."

"Wow." I was truly awed. I'd even heard about Chouji's success in California. I smiled, happy for him and for Ino. They'd been high school sweethearts and had married right out of school. In the times that I'd seen them together, I knew that they were still sweethearts. The marriage and the years living together hadn't dimmed it in anyway, if anything it had only made them more in love.

Kiba led the way up to the front door and as I looked back I saw the faces gazing at us in envy.

"I'll sneak something out!" I called. Cheers erupted from the street at the promise.

"You'll sneak what out?"

I whirled around to face Chouji's glowing smile. His arms were folded across his chest and he looked down at me with a superior look.

"Um…some treats." I widened my eyes in my best innocent look.

"Oh! That's just so cute!" Ino cried from just past her husband as she looked around him at us. "Chouji, you can't just resist that look!" She rushed off and was back in seconds with a plate load of cookies. "Chocolate Cherry Thumbprints!" Each cookie had an indentation which was filled with a bright red cherry and a chocolate kiss. My mouth watered even as I started down at the yummy confections.

Taking the plate before Chouji could (he was already reaching for it with a scowl on his face), I ignored his cry of "Those aren't done yet!" and rushed outside to share with the adorable little people. As soon as I reached them small hands darted in and grabbed as many cookies as they could leaving only one for me. I quickly stuffed it in my mouth before someone else could snatch it. Muffled moans of pleasure were heard all around. Little eyes rolled up in heads and drool began to leak from corners of mouths that thought that they had died and gone to heaven.

"I'm going to have to take you in for trafficking," Kiba grinned watching the kids, some of whom were now fainting onto the lawn in ecstasy. "Don't you know that those cookies are addicting."

"Now, I do," I said already wanting more.

Kiba pulled me back to the house before I could cause any more hallucination with sweets.

Ino was looking on in her oh-that's-so-cute face, her hands clasped in silent prayer under her chin with her head cocked to the side and a beautiful smile on her face.

"Ino," I half whispered to her as she gave me a tour of the house.

"What?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How the hell do you stay so thin, when your husband is a master pastry chef?" I looked at her petite slender figure that I know many women visit plastic surgeons to obtain.

Ino smirked, "lots and lots of excersize in and out of the bedroom," she giggled. I blushed even as my mind disobeyed direct directives to not go in that direction. I pictured Sasuke in the white t-shirt above me. His eyes at half mast as he stared down at me lying back on the couch. Lips slightly parted and a slight flush covering his upper cheeks and nose from desire. I swallowed hard at the image and tried to block it from my mind.

"Naruto?" Ino was asking as I finally came back to the present. "Are you alright? You're looking kind of flushed. You're not coming down with anything, are you?"

"No, no. I'm alright, shall we go back?" I distracted her by asking tons of questions about what she was doing, what her plans were. She was staying at home and working of her garden. She said that as a hobby she wrote gardening books and that they were doing very well. She also cross-bred flowers and came up with several new species. And she and Chouji were going to be parents in the fall.

Overjoyed for her, I clasped her hand in mine and we did one of those mini jumps that girls seem to do when they're very excited. "Really?! Congratulations! When is the baby due?"

"It's due in October. On your birthday!"

My mouth just dropped and I hugged her quickly. It was the first voluntary hug that's I given to anyone in the past three years. Another step accomplished, and it felt natural.

Until I turned and saw Kiba standing in the door way a way too serious look on his face. His shoulders lifted in a quiet breath.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, but you're under arrest."

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**A/N: Please don't kill me! *ducks as kunai, shurikens, senbons are thrown and runs when katanas are unsheathed* ARGHGHGHGH!**

***peers out from behind garbage can at milling mob* *whispers* Sorry about any grammar mistakes, I wanted to get this out there and recieve your opinions! * mob sees Zen* Yikes! *runs away again*  
**


	18. Chapter 18

The office was unusually busy this morning when I'd stepped from the truck. I'd left Naruto earlier than normal because of all the hectic chaos that my dispatch had mentioned when I'd phoned in. I'd been startled that she'd been sleeping and hadn't had any nightmares. I was beginning to think that she'd gotten over that hump and would be able to settle down into a normal life.

As I listened to an older woman rattling off about how her neighbor's dog had gotten into her daffodils and dug up the entire lot, my mind drifted. Particularly, to that night. She'd been on the couch with her book upside down when I'd come out of the bedroom. I'd known what I'd looked like with the slightly damp shirt. It's one of the reasons that I'd done it. To get her to look at me, and to get her to see me in a different light, a more intimate light. And I'd succeeded beyond my dreams.

She'd looked up at me and froze, and in those frozen moments I'd seen the heat in her eyes. They'd brightened into there more normal blue, shone with that inner light that hadn't been there when she'd come back. It had flickered briefly in certain situations but was quickly gone. But this time it had lit up and stayed there.

Unable to resist, I'd gone to her, knelt before her. Set my hands on her warm skin. I wasn't going to go farther but I'd felt the tense muscles under my hands and knew that she was in pain.

I'd waited for her to say something, to tell me to quit, but she hadn't. I'd began a gentle message keeping my eyes on hers watching for any signs of fear; there hadn't been.

I'd said something, and she'd responded in a voice that was rough with want. I wanted to go farther but I didn't want her to suddenly remember her past and push me away. Stupidly, I asked her if she wanted me to stop. That's when I'd seen the fear. I'd smiled at her to let her know that it was okay. I wasn't going to push her into something she didn't want.

I'd gone to bed that night rock hard. Every time I'd seen her this week I'd gotten immediately hard. Shit, who was I kidding? I just had to think her name and I had a wooden pole lodged against my zipper.

But still those deep sapphire eyes haunted me. When we'd been twelve and I'd found out what sex was, I'd wanted her. I'd hid it to the best of my abilities when I was around her, maybe too well, because she didn't think of me in that way. She'd talked about getting married to someone else, and our kids playing together. I'd been so jealous of this imaginary, unknown man for as long as I could remember.

"Mrs. Brighton, perhaps you should talk to Manny. Tell him that Jinx dug up your garden. I'm sure that he'd repay you for any expense and he'd also be sure to keep a better eye on the dog when he is outside," I interrupted the monologue and stood. I needed to get out and do my patrols. It was either that or go out and shoot the little Chihuahua for driving Mrs. Brighton into my office.

I waved at the receptionist on my way out.

I toured the town, which only took a few minutes normally, except today I had to escort several teens back to school, deal with Mr. Hennley who swore that someone had stolen his A-board sign from in front of his shop; which they had, and left if in front of Mrs. Rosen's so that it told people passing by that she was Open: Please Use Rear Entrance.

On any normal day, and if I wasn't the Sheriff in these parts, I would have found it amusing. Mr. Hennely was remodeling his store and the front entrance was closed off so he'd put out the sign so that he wouldn't lose customers. Today, it was angering. Mrs. Rosen was a young widow. And to put it bluntly, she'd ended up taking in customers of the nefarious sort to make ends meet since she couldn't get a better job than at the laundry mat. Growling, I picked up the sign and shoved it into the back of my truck to get it back to its proper place. I saw the curtain twitch as I stepped back into the truck. I nodded in that direction to let her know that I would take care of the situation.

I noticed that I'd become more sensitive to the situations that women were put in. With Naruto, I was aware of things that I hadn't been before. I'd approach a young mother, who'd used a lot of make-up to cover the mark on her jaw. She'd stared at me in horror before breaking down and crying, begging me to not say anything and to leave her alone before she'd run off. Feeling sick, I'd known that I couldn't do anything without making the situation worse. The woman had to be willing to help herself in order for anyone to help her. I'd spent an hour the day before helping an elder woman deliver eggs to various houses so that she could supplement her income. Social Security didn't pay much and sometimes there were expenses that a fixed income wouldn't cover.

Even though Konoha was a small town, I'd become enlightened about it inhabitants more. There were many in the town that were hurting or in bad situations. And there were some people that had taken on these causes and helped out to the best of there abilities. With this new insight, I'd grown closer to my home than ever before. I'd even gone so far as to contact my parents and recruit them to help, when they got back of course.

As I was going back to the station to fill out more of those endless reports, I was suddenly swamped with memories of the two of us. At the corner next to the communities center was a small tree. One particular branch near the bottom was good for sitting on. I remembered as Naruto hoisted herself into the tree, I'd sat there and we'd talk about mundane things; such as how Iruka-sensei had yelled at her in school for trying to sneak out, or Ino's newest dress. The church steps that she'd nearly tumbled down and I'd caught her before she could. She'd tripped on the hem of the long dress that she'd been forced into when Asuma-sensei had gotten married; Kurenai had insisted that Naruto be a flower girl and Shikamaru be the ring bearer. Sasuke had to admit that Naruto had looked so cute in the pink chiffon dress. The park where they'd played, even as teenagers, running around playing tag, crawling through the endless tunnels of plastic tubing and finally falling to the ground to lay exhausted under the pine trees and stare up at the heavens. Naruto taking my hand as the clouds drifted overhead. There were endless memories through out the town.

Seeing Sakura, I waved as I drove past. She'd smiled and waved back helping an elderly man from his car. Mr. MacDurmmot who'd had a small stroke a year before.

"Sheriff?" The radio in my truck crackled with static.

I picked it up. "Go ahead."

"Hey, we just received a mysterious package. Well, we didn't receive it but it was sitting on the steps as I was going out for my lunch break."

"What's in it, Nancy?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to open it? I was thinking that you might want to do the honors your self, seeing as how you _are_ the sheriff after all," Nancy snipped. "What if there's anthrax in there? I don't want to catch it and die and all, you know."

I rolled my eyes at her reasoning. "I highly doubt that anyone would trouble to send us a box of anthrax. Its probably just some prank, and when we open it up it'll be something harmless."

"So do you want me to open it?"

"No, I'll be there in just a few minutes. Go ahead and take you break."

"Will do, see ya later."

"Yeah." I hung the radio up and continued on to the station.

I spotted the package sitting on my desk as soon as I entered the office. I quickly looked the box over. It was a plain brown cardboard box, nothing special about it. There wasn't any writing nor was there any markings that showed where it had come from. It hadn't even been sealed, just the flaps folded closed. I pulled the flaps up and waited for something to jump out at me but nothing did. The box was full of those irritating white Styrofoam peanuts. Sighing, I picked up my garbage can and began filling it with the clingy stuff. About half way my hand kit something solid and I grasped it, pulling it out. It was a black leather pouch. Growing more suspicious by the moment I opened it. Inside was another bag, this time plastic, along with a plain white sheet of paper folded in half.

I opened it and read what was on the inside. I felt a surge of anger spear through me at the computer printed words. In fact, it was more on par with rage and I gritted my teeth together as I picked up the bag and strode out of my office and across the hall to the lab. I moved to a work station and drew on a pair of gloves.

Seeing as how Konoha is a small town, we have a lab but no CSI Unit so all finger printing and blood work is done by Kiba or I. I pulled out the knife being careful to touch it only by the blade so that I didn't smear any finger prints on the handle. I dusted the black powder over the handle and found one clear print. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I pulled the print off and moved it into the finger print analyzer which would take the print and automatically run it through the local database to find a match. If it wasn't in the local file then it would move it into the statewide, then the national databases.

As it was running through the names I took out some luminol and a swab. I ran the swab over the blade and along the hilt where the blade connected to the handle then dripped some luminol over the swab. It reacted immediately.

The computer that was matching finger prints beeps to let me know that it had found a match and I reluctantly went to it. Pulling out a sheet of paper, I looked down at it. I couldn't do more that just look at it. I then crumpled it up and re-ran the test hoping that for some reason it was just a fluke. A few more minutes went by before the machine spit out another sheet. I grabbed it and glared down at the sheet then waited for it to ignite. It didn't and the results were the same.

I went back to my office and grabbed the box taking it into the lab and running the dusting powder over it, inside it, and even under it; but I didn't find a single finger print. In my rage I tossed the box across the room where it cracked one of the windows where it hit. I then yelled and shouted and curse until the dispatch officer and my secretary came running to find out what was going on, both with complete looks of shock and a little fear in their expressions.

"Sheriff? Are you okay?" my secretary, the braver of the two, asked.

"No, I'm not bloody well okay!" I stormed out of the lab and across the hall. Slamming the door to my office I tried to regain control over my emotions which flared back up as I spotted the note.

_You might want to check this out._

_The person you're living with isn't the person you think she is._

_Fuck!_ I continued to rage but it was all internal. I pulled my emotions inward because I had a job to do. People were counting on me to do that job, and if I couldn't because I was emotionally attached to someone then I wasn't the man for the job. There were just some days where my job sucked major ass.

I returned to the lab and began to bag everything into evidence. In a few minutes I was done and back in my office where I picked up the land line and dialed Kiba's cell.

"Yo, Sheriff, what's up?"

The man irritated me on the best days and this wasn't my best day.

"Listen and don't say anything but short quick responses, understand?"

"Yes," came the immediate clipped response.

"Is Naruto with you?"

"Yes, but not next to me."

"You have to bring her in."

Silence met the statement.

"Kiba, you have to arrest her, do you understand?"

"Yes." There was more than a little rage in that one word. I knew that Kiba really didn't understand but he would do his job. I wasn't sure how to feel about Kiba's trust in me; he knew that I wouldn't ask him to do this if I wasn't sure about it.

"Good." I hung up and began the wait.

****

In less that ten minutes Kiba and Naruto were stepping through the door. Her arms were behind her back and kept there with a zip line. We didn't use hand cuffs anymore because the zips were more efficient when you needed to incapacitate someone's hands in a hurry. The harshness of the line illustrated just how serious this situation had become.

I stayed in my office as Kiba fingerprinted Naruto and then filled out the paperwork for booking. He led her into the closed of section of the station that housed the stalls and out of sight. A few minutes later and he was back. I'd seen just how controlled he was when he stormed into my office.

"What the Fuck, Sasuke?!"

I pulled out the evidence and set it on my desk then I pulled out the paper confirming fingerprints. Kiba stared at the items on my desk before a low growl erupted from his throat.

"I'm sending the blood work out so it will take a day or so, but I don't think it will help. If anything it will just confirm what is already in front of us," I stated calmly.

Kiba paced to the door and back again and I watched as he tried to relieve his excess energy.

"How the fuck can you sit there so calmly? This is Naruto we are talking about. She couldn't have done this. Some one is framing her!" Kiba shouted then swung around to face me.

"I've contacted Detective Morino. He and his partner will be flying in tonight and will question Naruto, since they are in charge of the investigation."

"Like that is going to help. They don't know Naruto and beside they are city cops. They probably already think that Naruto is guilty and we are just handing them the evidence they need to convict her. She's going to go to prison and we won't be able to do a thing about it!" Kiba seemed to already think that it was a lost cause.

"Kiba," I growled getting his attention before he went off on another rant. "Look, having you here and yelling at me isn't going to accomplish anything. There isn't anything I can do at the moment but make sure that Naruto is comfortable in the cell and when Morino gets here, make sure that he doesn't harass Naruto." I sighed. "Why don't you go home while I stay here. Kiss Hinata and get some rest. I'll let you know what happens, or you'll be here in the morning and can find out then."

Kiba looked like he was about to protest.

"Please, Kiba, this is hard enough as it is. I will handle things and make sure that Naruto gets fair treatment!"

Kiba sighed then nodded, he shoulders falling as if a heavy weight had just settled onto them. He turned and with a small wave left.

Once he left, I stayed in my office just staring off into space. At five, Nancy came in to let me know that she was leaving and I absently nodded to her.

"You know, boss, that things will work out. They always do." This drew my attention to her. "I've watched you and Naruto grow up in this town. I remember the way that you always watched after her, and the way that you looked at her when she didn't see. I also saw the way she looked at you. I haven't seen you together but I don't think that either of your feelings have changed."

"H—how did she look at me?" I asked hesitantly.

Nancy smiled. "As cliché as it sounds, she looked at you like you hung the moon. No one else was in her gaze and it was the same for you. Well, I have to get home so that I can get dinner for Fred. I swear that man would starve to death if I wasn't about." She tossed me one last smile before walking out.

The dispatch changed and I decided that Naruto had waited long enough. I squared my shoulders and went to see her.

The forlorn creature that was sitting in the cell was hunched in on herself. Her arms were wrapped around her body like she was cold, but the temperature in this part of the building was more than comfortable warm. But as I drew closer I saw that she was shaking like a leaf. When she heard me approach she looked up. My steps faltered seeing her. Her face was white, paler than I had ever seen her and her eyes were wide in near panic. Then I remembered what she'd said about her husband locking her up. I quickly went to her and drew her into my arms. She didn't resist and I held her to me tightly.

"It'll be alright, Naruto."

"Wh-what happened? Wh-why am I h-here?"

_Shit, I hadn't told Kiba so he wasn't able to tell her._

"Some one delivered a box to the station. Inside was a knife. It had your fingerprint on it and some blood. Until the blood comes back, I'm afraid that you have to stay here. The results should be here tomorrow. But I contacted Detective Morino and he is going to fly in tonight to speak with you."

Naruto nodded against my chest and I my hand found its way to her cheek. I drew her head up so that I could see her eyes. They weren't nearly as panic stricken as they'd been when he'd first enter the cell. My eyes immediately found her lips and I dropped my head hesitating a fraction from connecting with the soft warms of her mouth. I waited for her to protest and push me away but she didn't. Her breath shuddered from her and across my lips nearly drawing a moan from me.

Then my mouth was on hers, pressing into hers. I slowly licked her bottom lips asking for entry and in seconds her lips parted allowing me to dive into the warm cavern. I controlled the kiss making sure to keep if from being demanding, instead I kept it to a gentle exploration.

She tasted sweet. There was hints of chocolate and cherry in the kiss that were intriguing to me and I sought out the flavors. I explored her teeth then started a playful duel with her before I settled my tongue a little firmer over hers and rubbed it in an ancient rhythm that caused her to gasp.

I pulled away first before I lost my mind and took the kiss further. I put some distance between my body and hers before I took her hand and asked the questions that I needed to have answered so that I could be assured that Morino didn't take advantage of her.

"Naruto, do you remember anything about that night?"

Her head dropped and she stared at her feet. Then looked up at me.

"I get flashes sometimes, but they are so disjointed that I don't even know if they are real or if they are just memories from other times and places."

"Can you describe them?"

"No, not really. They are just quick flashes of picture. Sometimes faces like Orochimaru, and that smug smirk of his. Or Sakon, though his look is more horrified. I could be from that night but I-I just don't know. Sometimes I see bloody hands and I don't know if they are mine or I see headlights…I a-afraid of remembering," she whispered.

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**A/N: I seriously thought the mob was going to kill me! I've been threatened, called insane...Its been alot of fun! Now we are finally getting into the furious and fast paced part of the story...meh well, I hope that it is furious and fast paced...well at least you all are furious! :)**

**'K this is a really fast update! See what happens with you review! XD So if you review more than I might have another update out soon! Though I can't promise that it will be this quick! Since I updated fast I hope that you will forgive the grammar errors and just over look them! I know that there are errors and I know that I should fix them, but...Its just too troublesome! (ooo, channeling Shikamaru! HAHA!)**

**Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews, for favoriting the story, or even for favoriting me. And Thanks to everyone who has read the story up to this point! Love you all, because you are so awesome!**

**ZEN  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Let's just get right to it!**

**Disclaimer: SASUNARU RULES! I do not own Naruto, but We are going to take over the world!**

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I was seated at a table across from Detective Morino and Fuuma. I watched the two waiting for them to start the series of questions that I didn't know how to answer. Morino leaned forward and laced his forearms on the table clasping his hands together but still he didn't talk. Wondering if this was a scare tactic, I leaned back in my seat trying to get farther away from those dark, piercing eyes. Morino was terrifying when he was on your side, but now I was certain that I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life now that I wasn't considered a victim.

"Naruto, what did you do that morning?" Fuuma asked. I nearly smiled but knew that the humor of the situation would be lost on them. Hell, it was even lost on me and I was the one who wanted to smile. Maybe it was the irony of the situation. How many times had I asked myself just that question.

"I don't know," I answered yet again. Detective Fuuma was trying to get me to walk her through my day in order to bring out memories of that night. But those memories were lock down tight and I'd thrown away the slip of paper that the access codes were on. I didn't have a clue where to begin because I couldn't bring those memories to the surface.

"Just start when you woke up."

"I don't know when I woke up, or even if I woke up, detective."

"Okay, tell us about the night before."

I tried to center my thought on the day before but even those memories were hazy. "Sakon had a party. Just a small get together. It was odd to me."

"Why was that?"

"Sakon catered the party. Before, I was always required to make the food for any gathering he insisted on."

"Why do you think he catered the party?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"Did you know all of the guests? Was there anyone new at the party?"

"No…" I trailed off as a picture flashed through my head of a shadowy figure hovering at the edges of the crowd. It was late and Sakon had forced several of the cocktails on me. The now me realized that the drinks had been spiked. "I…th-there might have been someone new…I-I just can't re-recall. Sakon had been making me drink more than usual and I think that the drinks were probably spiked…" The whole of the evening had been hazy, like I was stumbling through a fog. Other than that brief glance, I didn't remember if I had been introduced to that person or not, and I didn't recall seeing them again.

"What is the last thing that you remember about the night?"

I pulled up a foggy memory. "Tayuya was leading me…to the bedroom, I guess. She was laughing, telling someone that I'd had too much to drink." The ache in my head was growing and it was all I could do to keep from moaning because of the pain. I started to message my temples to try and relieve some of the pressure.

"Have a head ache?"

I nodded.

"Let's take a break, okay?"

Again, I nodded. The two detectives stood and left. I sighed and shifted in the chair trying to work out some of the kinks that stress and sitting in the hard chair had produced. I wondered if I could claim that these chairs were a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Hearing the door behind me open, I looked around thinking that the detectives were back. Sasuke stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He looked me over from head to toe and I knew that he was cataloging the dark circles, messy hair, and tired looks that I was showing. I could see that his own eyes were sunken and exhausted but still sharp. He again looked like he was holding up the world and I felt the guilt at bringing that look to him. I was beginning to think that it was only going to get worse and I hadn't had any intention of bringing these worries to my friends and family.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I'm okay, it's just so frustrating. I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall made of steal trying to knock it down."

"Hmm…I think that I've been there a few times," he smirks.

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning darkly at him. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm stubborn?"

"Oh, not stubborn…more like..." he paused as if thinking, "mule-headed, obstinate, inflexible…"

"Alright, alright! Gosh, you don't have to spell it out. I'm not an idiot!"

Sasuke just leaned back against the wall, smirk still in full view. I glared at him for a few minutes before giving a small huff and facing in the opposite direction. I ignored him when I heard his foot steps approach. I disregarded him when I heard the chair next to mine being pulled out and I refused to look at him when he said my name…or at least I tried to.

"Naruto," he said quietly and waited. I sighed and looked at him. The smirk was gone and in its place was a seriousness that I had seen on too many occasions recently.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," I cried then moved into his arms when he held them out. The years seemed to fall away and I was the teenager that went to him for nearly everything. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Tears filled my eyes and I buried my head into his shoulder refusing to let them fall. "I wish…I wish that I could take all of this back!"

"Shh! Naruto, its okay," he murmured into my ear. "I never meant for any of this to happen either. And all we can do now is work to make it right." My arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and I felt him rocking me back and forth like a little child.

"Oh God, Sasuke, why…why did this happen? Is god angry with me? Was I such a terrible person that he felt I needed to be punished?"

"Naruto, you of all people should know that isn't so! It's human beings that make their own choices. You are a good person, and I'm sure that if it was up to God then you would be sitting on a throne enjoying all the good things that life has to offer."

For the first time in years, I felt a smidgen of hope. The sting of pain finally gave way to a warm light that seemed to fill me. I'd thought for a long time that everything that had happened, I deserved. I left my home, my family, and my friends because I was selfish. I'd wanted to prove that I was able to stand on my own. But in the end, I hadn't been able to. I'd made too many wrong choices, too many wrong turns, and got lost.

Sasuke's warm hands were pressed against my back rubbing in slow circles as I became aware of how close I was to him. Actually, I was sitting on him. I felt the heat spread up my neck and enter my cheeks. Swallowing the sudden moisture in my mouth, I moved back from him. I was embarrassed at the emotional outburst that I displayed and could hard meet his eyes. But when I did there wasn't any accusation just a lingering warm that was quickly turning into desire.

As a young woman, I'd often thought that if I let myself, I could drown in the swirling pools of his eyes. Perhaps that is what scared me the most, allowing someone to take over and in turn I would lose myself. That is exactly what had happened. My fear became my reality. Now, I know that Sasuke would have let me be myself. He wouldn't have taken me over the way that Sakon had.

"What?" Sasuke asked when I didn't say anything.

Startled, I looked at him in question.

"You look like you just found something out that you hadn't known before."

I smiled brilliantly at him. "That's because I have!" I jumped up from his lap and holding out my arms, I twirled around like I used to when I was a kid. I felt giddy, excited, and happy for the first time in three and a half years!

"Well, if you would share then I'm sure that I would join you in your joy."

I turned to grin at him and found that he was grinning back. Taking a deep breath I dove in feet first. "I ran away because I was afraid that by staying with you I would lose myself. I wanted to prove to you and to everyone that I could stand alone, make decisions, and be independent."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but I forestalled him by holding up a hand. "Please, let me finish. The first mistake I made was running away. I was so scared of disappointing everyone that I ended up doing everything wrong. My fear became my reality. Sakon stole everything from me; my pride, my dignity, my morality…even my family and friends. And I let him.

"Well, I know now that that wouldn't have happened. You have never tried to tell me what to do…well, okay, you have, but you were always willing to listen to me if I had a difference of opinion. You let me be who _I_ wanted to me and didn't try to force me to be someone I'm not. I could yell at you without worrying. With you I was safe…" I blinked back tears and laughed through them. "It's just…I now realize just how much I loved you and still do."

Sasuke stilled, became a veritable statue at my words but he didn't get a chance to reply. Morino and Fuuma came back into the room. They took in my beaming expression and Sasuke's stunned look and came to the conclusion that something big just happened.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Fuuma said with a small expression of regret, "but we need to keep going."

Sasuke nodded but continued to stare at me even as he backed out of the door. The portal slowly closed and we were cut off from each other. I continued to stare at the door feeling as if I was cut off from the warmth of the sun. I smiled at that thought. Sasuke _was_ my sun. Just as Sakura was Lee's, Hinata was Kiba's, Temari was Shika's, Ino was Chouji's, and the bugs were Shino's. I finally understood why poets wrote such mushy stuff about love and why people would do almost anything to feel it.

I loved Sasuke Uchiha! I have loved him from the very beginning. He had been my best friend, my confidant, and even my body guard. He stood by my side when I'd been picked on because I was skinny. He'd punched a guy because the boy had been telling everyone that I was a slut. He was my first kiss when we were twelve, accidental though it was. He'd taken me to junior prom, then the senior ball because neither of us wanted to go with anyone else. He'd always been there.

I'd been wrong in thinking that our kids would play together. They will still play together. They will laugh together and grow up together; they will just be doing it with the same name. They will fight, and live, and be a family.

I wanted to fill up that huge house that Sasuke was living in. I wanted to fill it with laughter and warmth, safety and security. I wanted to hear tiny feet running after little kittens, giggling girls and boys with dark hair and eyes. I wanted to kiss tiny hands and fill them with cookies. _I wanted to live my life with Sasuke and grow old with him._

I looked up at the two serious detectives. And in Ibiki's hand was a plastic bag with a very familiar knife.

Agony. Horrific agony seared through me and I dropped to my knees, my arms wrapping around my middle trying to hold all of it inside. I knelt there panting as memories crashed in from all directions.

"Naruto, do you recognize this knife?" Ibiki asked.

I nodded.

Reality filled me and I knew that everything I wanted was just a fairy tale. The dreams that I'd dreamed just seconds before were lying shattered around me crumbling into dust. That knife had gouged out a canyon so wide and bottomless that there was no way to cross it.

Slowly, I got to my feet. I felt so old, like I had lived my entire life and it was useless.

"Tell me about this knife." It wasn't a statement or a question, it was a demand.

I carefully made my way to the chair and slumped down into its hard ness. My hands folded onto the table and I stared down at them, unable meet the detectives eyes. I was quiet, thinking, weighing each memory for truthfulness.

"Naruto?"

I sighed. "It belonged to a set. Twelve knives. They were a wedding present. I wouldn't be able to tell you who they were from, but I know that they were written down in the keepsake album. They're very expensive and custom made." I shuddered at how dead my voice sounded. "I've never liked them, they're creepy, what with the bone in the handle. What kind of sane person uses bone in a knife handle? Sakon liked them though, thought that they were a status symbol. So they were kept out on the counter. I purchased a set of cheep knives that I used for everyday, and never used those if I could help it. I had to hide my set from Sakon because he didn't like anything cheep in the house." I trailed off trying to think of other things that were significant to the knife.

"Naruto? Did you kill your husband?"

A very vivid memory flashed through my mind. Sakon grabbing my arm and pulling me around to deliver another fist to my head. We were in the kitchen and I reached out for something, anything to stop him. My hand wrapped around the handle of the knife and I drew it just as he back handed me. He didn't let my arm go and when I stumbled back he yanked me to him, the knife between us.

"Yes," I whispered.

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**A/N: OMG! I can not believe that I'm so cruel! And I'm so sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to end it on a cliffy! So don't hurt me...or you won't get an update!**

**So, tell me what you think and i will try to update soon...I just can't leave you hanging indefinitely. Well, I can but I try not to be so cruel. And if you review you might get the update quicker! Hint, hint. I've just got so many ideas rolling through this little brain of mine that i'm not sure where this will end up. And you might even get a lemon before we are finished! I know how much you all like them!** **Almost as much as Oreos!**

**Well, goodnight my little sweets and don't worry...I'll be visiting you soon!**

**ZEN**

**P.S. Forget the grammar. I've decided that the world doesn't need it! LOLZ  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Alright, her it is the next chapter! I am so sorry that its so late! But to make up for it, it is the longest chapter in this story! I hope you all enjoy it.**

**TRS: Sasuke says that its too late! But if you lock Naruto up in your basement and swallow the key then, he says, this fiction will never be finished...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Now on with the story!

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I stood there staring at the door, trying to decide if I should kick open the door, grab Naruto and run for the hills. In that instant, I hated the wood and steel core that stood between me and her. When this was all over with, I was going to take it from its hinges and burn it!

I turned on my heel and strode to my office ignoring all the chaos that had ensued in the front of the station when word had gotten out that I'd had Naruto arrested. It felt like an eternity had passed since I had gotten that God Damned package. Hell, if I had never opened it, if I had just taken it out to the dumpster then all of this would have passed us over. I could be sitting at home with Naruto snuggled up on the couch watching some stupid rerun.

But then, if we were, would I have seen the radiant expression that came over her face? Would I have seen the joy that lit up her eyes so that they sparkled like jewels? Would I have witnessed the old Naruto surface for the first time? Would I want to give that up?

The corners of my mouth tugged their way up. No, I wouldn't want to give it up. Even though it pained me, I had done my job and in doing so I had received a very precious gift in return. My Naruto had come back.

I heard a knock on the door and Sakura shoved her way past the secretary and into my office. I waved the receptionist off and looked at the pink haired woman. She was giving me a glare that would have done any Uchiha proud. Her hands rested on her hips and her teeth were grinding as she looked at me. I could see very painful things flitting through her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you are playing at, Uchiha?" she asked.

"Sakura…I know that you mean well…"

"Do NOT give me any platitudes. You know as well as I do that there isn't any way that Naruto did anything wrong!" Her voice had risen so that it was near yelling. I wondered irreverently if Lee had ever seen this side of her.

"Sakura, I know…"

"Uchiha, you fix this, right now! Or…or I won't speak to you ever again!"

I frowned as she whirled around and stormed back out of the office. Did she really think that that was much of a threat? But she was right I had to fix this, somehow…

Pulling my cell out I quickly scrolled through the contacts and dialed a number.

"Yeah?"

"I need that information now!" I told the person on the other end.

"I'm working on it! Cracking O's security and computers isn't like taking a walk through a park."

"Time is running out and I need to know that Naruto is going to be safe. Do you have any information?"

"I might…Dammit! Shifty little fuckers! Okay, I have a place and time, its over seven months old, but it might just be the information that you need."

"Good, give it to me and I'll get someone on it!" I wrote down the date and the place as it was given then hung up and dialed another number.

"Sasuke-kun, love! It is so good to heard from you!" The voice purred into my ear and I rolled my eyes, then it turned low and seductive. "How about you and I getting together…alone…just the two of us, say at my place?"

"No. I have a place that needs your attention. I'm looking for a body, a dead body. It is very important that I find this body and quickly. I want you to fly to California and check this place out…thoroughly!"

"Business. It is always business with you, Sasuke-kun. You know that you are going to die a lonely old man if you don't learn how to relax. Alright, give me the address."

A few minutes later I hung up and prayed. Standing I left my office to find Kiba leading Naruto out of the interrogation room and back to the cell. Her head was bowed.

"Naruto?" I called. I saw her tense but she didn't look at me, in fact she sped up and practically dragged Kiba along with her. I approached the room to see Detective Morino on the phone and Detective Fuuma bagging the knife back up. She heard me approach.

"Morino is arranging transportation for Naruto," she said sadly looking up at Sasuke with an apology in her eyes.

"Transportation?"

"Yes." She inhaled then exhaled slowly. "Naruto confessed to Sakon's murder."

Stunned I simply stood there waiting for the punch line. But it wasn't funny. "What? She confessed? But…how? Why? She…couldn't have…" I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"Uchiha," Morino stated coldly, "we believe that it was self-defense but even so we have to take her back. Plus I think that she knows more about Orochimaru's activities and if she does then we can finally nail the snake-bastard! We have to make special arrangement for protection and anything else that might pop up. We'll be leaving tomorrow."

It was too soon in my mind. Naruto couldn't have, wouldn't have killed anyone no matter what. So Ibiki had to be right that it was self-defense or a tragic accident. My eyes closed as I thought. Kiba was really good as sniffing things out. I would set him on getting information. He would be calling around talking to anyone and everyone that Naruto had any contact with in California. If Kiba couldn't find anything then I knew some people that would break bones to get the information if necessary. I smiled evilly at that thought. I wouldn't want to call them in because it would mean talking to my brother, but I would do anything if it meant keeping Naruto safe.

I turned and strode out of the room. I needed to talk to Naruto, get names and if possible numbers.

****

Three hours later Kiba had cajoled the information out of Naruto. She had flat out refused to give it to me so I called in reinforcements then taken myself off to make a few more phone calls. I hadn't made any progress on getting Naruto's situation fixed and I was nearing the end of my rope when Kiba strode in a triumphant grin in place.

"Got it, boss!" He waved several sheets of paper in front of my face. I smirked up at him then motioned for him to get started. I nearly grinned when I heard him groan but he turned and left. Through the glass that surrounded my office I watched as he made his way to his desk, sit, then pick up the receiver and start dialing. It was going to be a rather long night for him.

Morino and Fuuma had left earlier so I decided that I would pay a visit to my stubborn prisoner.

She was sitting on the small cot leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. I saw that someone had given her a book in order to help the time pass and I felt a twinge of guilt that I hadn't thought of that. It was a mystery/romance novel, the kind that Sakura and Ino enjoyed so it must have been one of them.

"Hey," I said by way of a greeting.

She didn't say anything or even move from her position but I knew she'd heard me. I moved across the cell and sat down next to her on the cot. Glancing at the title, it was actually one of Jiraiya's. I smirked a little now that I had some blackmail material for Ino and Sakura.

"So, Ino and Sakura read Icha Icha Yaoi Paradise. Good to know when I need some peace and quiet."

Still no response from Naruto.

"Morino is taking you back to California," I said quietly.

"No, he isn't," Naruto said just as quietly. She finally opened her blue eyes. They were just as dull as they had been that night in the bar when I saw her for the first time in three years. Over the past weeks, they'd gained some spark of life and earlier they had nearly glowed. My heart tore just a little at those eyes.

"What do you mean? He's gotten the expedition orders and everything is arranged."

Naruto smiled, as sad little smile. Just the sight filled me with dread.

"Go home, Sasuke. Just forget me. Find someone who isn't broken, have a couple of children, and live until your old and you are bouncing great-grandbabies on your knee." Her voice was even, emotionless.

I frowned then I got angry. "What if the name of all that is holy are you talking about? You speak as though you've just heard that you have one day to live!" I was shouting and the commotion drew attention. The door opened and the receptionist and night time dispatch stuck their heads in to see what was going on. I rounded on them in my anger.

"Get the fuck out!"

Instantly they withdrew and the door closed.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's quiet voice pulled my attention back to her like nothing else could have. "If you only had one day to live, what would you want to do?"

"I—I…" my voice drifted off and I could only think of one thing. "I would want to make love to you. Spend every moment with you."

Naruto looked up and every emotion was back and then some, but there was still that hint of grief. She smiled beautifully at me. Then leaned towards me, pressing her lips to mine, and threading fingers into my hair. She held me close so that I couldn't pull away.

"Please, please, please, Sasuke, please make love to me. Make me forget. Let me have this memory," she whispered against my lips.

"Naruto--," I groaned then surrendered to her lips.

Confusion warred with want. My need to be with her, inside her, battled with my need for answers. Puzzlement lost against desire. I'd been a walking hard-on for more weeks that I cared to count, knowing that if I made any move toward her she would bolt. But now, she was begging me to love her.

I pulled her firmly to my chest and devoured her mouth. I felt her stiffen and knew that fear was trying to crowd out her conviction.

"It's your show," I said withdrawing my hands. He looked up at me with trepidation filling her eyes. "Show me, make love to me the way you want to. Touch me the way you need to." I lay back on the cot and placed my hand above my head.

Luminous blue eyes searched mine for lies and treachery.

"Naruto, I'm not going to betray you. Do anything you want to me and I won't move unless you want me to." I was giving her free reign to my body, and by god, it would be torture but even if it killed me I wouldn't move from this position.

"W—will you t—t—take y—your clothes off?" She barely made any sound when voicing her request.

I glanced at the door to the outer offices but I knew that no one was going to come through those doors again until I was gone. My temper was legendary and if I could fry someone with lightening bolts from my eyes…then someone would have already died.

I stood, toed off my boots, and began to slowly unbutton my shirt. With each inch of skin I revealed, I pause just long enough to run a finger down my chest to the next button then flicked it open. I tried to convey every emotion I felt for her with my eyes. And I could tell that I got my point across if the blush that spread from her neck up to her cheeks was any indication. Once all the buttons were taken care of, I shrugged the shirt from my shoulders, letting the material slide down my arms and drop to the floor.

I worked out regularly and it showed right down to the finely toned deltoids. My biceps bulged as I flexed them then moved my hands to the top button and undid it with a flip of my thumb and finger. Before moving to my zipper I slowly rubbed my six-pack drawing her fiery blue eyes to the fine line of hair that disappeared into the pants. Her mouth was opened a little and her chest rose and fell rapidly.

I played with the tongue of the zipper before lowering it, then I shucked the pants and underwear is one swift move. I stood upright and watched as her gaze roamed over my entire form. From muscular calves and back to my eyes.

"Sas—ke, you are so beautiful." Her enormous eyes shown with a new expression. "I—I had no idea…" She licked her lips in unconscious sensuality and I closed my eyes praying strength .

I moved back to the cot, sat down next to her, and heard a small gasp. Ignoring the sharp inhalation, I resumed my position knowing that I was standing at attention in an almost rude fashion. I breathed deeply and evenly concentrating on that instead of the waiting. I kept my eyes on the ceiling and if that didn't help I was going to try to count every cinder block in the entire cell.

I didn't have long to wait before Naruto's curiosity got the better of her. She was also very determined; and when she was, it was best just to let her have her way. Her stubbornness was what had gotten her through junior high when every girl in the seventh and eighth grades had made fun of her because she was still very flat chested. Her strength of mind had gotten her through the abuse of her marriage.

I felt her move more than saw her. She knelt on the floor by my side. Her fingers ghosted lightly over my right arm. The touch was almost not there but the tingling warmth that it left behind nearly made me gasp. The heat that that almost touch left behind had me panting.

Her fingers entwined with mine before she raised my hand to her lips. Her mouth kissed the back of my hand then her tongue darted out to taste my flesh. She drew one finger into that moist cavern and played with the pad, biting a suckling it until I was nearly mad with want. My man hood twitched with each flick and I clenched my teeth together, holding myself ridged so that I didn't attack her.

She rose up on her knees, dropping my hand back to my side and looking at me with all the curiosity of her life written in that blue, blue gaze. She licked her lips and my eyes immediately fastened onto the movement.

"Do it," I whispered egging her onward. "Kiss me, taste me, take me. This body is yours how ever you want it."

I watched her eyes darken with lust even as she leaned forward. With little hesitation, Naruto placed her mouth against mine and kissed me. I opened my mouth and urged her to do the same nearly taking over the kiss and deepening. The low moan that broke from her throat called me back at the last second and I pulled away. But that didn't deter her as she began to kiss her way to the hollow of my throat and lick a pathway to my ear. She nibbled at the sensitive flesh before moving lower.

"Yes, Naruto. God! It feels so good." My hands clenched into the bed below me as I fought against my dominancy. I was never a man to sit back and let anyone do what I was allowing Naruto to do.

She explored every inch of my chest, learning each erotic zone that made me gasp, memorizing every taste and texture.

Her hands found my nipples first and she pinched the tight copper buds drawing a groan from me. Involuntarily, my hips bucked and I could see the gleam that entered her eyes as she looked up at my reaction. A slow smile curved her lips even as she turned her attention back to my chest. I now knew that she had an even more devious plot in mind for my body.

It wasn't long before I was writhing under her hands and lips. She slid a hand down and lightly grasped my manhood.

"Tighter," I moaned, "I want to feel you." Her hand immediately tightened. "Good,' I praised. "Now, slide your hand up and down." She complied and I threw my head back into the bed as pleasure raced down my spine and centered at my groin. I taught her how to pleasure me and I reveled in her attention. "With your other hand, cup my balls. Lightly roll them, feel them, they are so tight."

She watched every little detail of my body, just as I watched her through eye lids that were lowered until only a slit of darkness could be seen.

"Sa—Sauke," her voice had lowered and the husk deepened until it was a throaty sound that drove my passion even further.

"Naruto," I answered. "What ever you want."

I heard her whimper even as her eyes filled with confusion.

"What? What do you need?"

"I—I don't know. I want you to touch me, but I'm scared," she cried quietly.

I sat up and slid off the bed until I knelt before her.

"Then tell me what you want me to do."

Her delectable mouth opened and closed before she whimpered again. Her hands motioned towards her body but words were lost on her. I understood what she was silently asking but I didn't make a move. If she wanted it, she would have to tell me out loud. I waited hands wrapped into fists to keep them from reaching for her.

"T-touch m-m-my b-breasts," she stuttered out on a shaky exhale.

I raised my hands and cupped her breast gently allowing them to fill my palm and test their weight. The skin was so soft and silky and my thumb brushed over the sensitive tips causing her back to arch into the caress. I repeated the action then took the hardened nubs between my forefingers and thumbs and squeezed it lightly. Naruto gasped her eyes closed and her breath panting in and out.

"What more do you need, Naruto?" I asked drawing her attention back to me. Her dark eyes opened and swirling pools of blue emerged. I studied the passion that light those dark depths then I dipped my head to take the nipple of one of her breast into my mouth.

She once more rose up pressing herself even more into my mouth and I relished in the sensation. Her hands threaded into my hair before clenching at the back and holding me to her.

"Oh, oh, Sasuke," Naruto moaned. "Please!"

"Tell me," I demanded.

"Touch me."

"Where, where do you need me to touch?"

"I—I can't say it," she murmured a blush brightening her cheeks even more than the flush of passion.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"Don't make me say it!" she cried.

"Say it," My voice hardened.

"My p-p-pussy," she begged in a rush.

Need slammed into me and I immediately slid my hand between her thighs to cup her center. I was rewarded by the immediate dampening and I pushed my fingers through the curly blond locks to find her hidden treasure.

"Ngh! Sasuke!" She cried in protest even as her body betrayed her by thrusting up into my hand.

"Do you need this?" I continued in the same tone that I had used before. That hard voice that demanded a response.

"Y-yes!"

I smiled softly at her before I dipped my fingers into her drawing out the liquid and coating her with it then dipping into her for some more, which I spread across myself.

"Naruto, you have to do the rest."

"Wh—What?" her dazed eyes tried to focus on mine.

"You need to do the rest."

Clarity came to her quickly and her eyes widened. I gave her a reassuring smile then laid down on the floor and waited watching her. Her startled eyes traveled over my body as she tried to figure out what and how she was to proceed. I nearly grinned as she took a deep breath and straddled me.

"That's it, Naruto," I praised.

Her hand found my manhood again and I thrust into her grip. A concentrated look came over her face and she placed the tip of me against her opening. She slowly, torturously lowered herself onto my stiff pole and I groaned at the heat that radiated from her center. God, she felt good.

I kept my eyes trained on her waiting for some sign of fear, but none came. I felt triumph at knowing that she had never been in this position. She'd always been under someone, dominated by her husband. Being under someone was a vulnerable position, and for those that needed control and force it was the ultimate position for such feelings. In this position I had handed her the reigns, given her the control.

Naruto's head dropped back as she rode my body, rolling her hips she rocked against me. I let her learn the feeling of me being inside of her before I grasped her hips. I pushed her upwards until I nearly left her before I let her weight slide back down. She understood immediately what I wanted and began to move. Her strong legs tucked under her and helped with the motion. Her hands leaned onto my chest and I took in the sight of her bouncing breasts as they bobbed and swayed above me.

Unable to help it, I lightly cupped them in my hands and played even as Naruto moved above me.

It didn't take long for the new rhythm to have Naruto and myself gasping. I needed to come and my sac tightened in warning. Naruto's tight passage clenched milking my penis and I came, spurting hotly into her. My ejaculation caused her own orgasm and she screamed at the rush of pleasure that plunged her over the brink of oblivion.

She collapsed on top of me and I held her as she panted, coming down.

"Holy Hell, Sasuke!" she muttered into my chest. "That…I've never felt anything so amazing!" She pushed against me, sliding off so that she could sit up on the floor. "Did you know?"

"Did I know what?" I asked sitting up myself.

"Did you know that it could be like that?" Her eyes were huge as she looked at me.

"Hn."

"Damn it! Will you just answer the question instead of that all purpose evasion?!" He reached over and smacked me on the shoulder.

I grinned. "Yes, I knew that it would fell like that with you."

She blinked at me before her gazed softened and her head ducked in sudden shyness. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Th-thank you, Sasuke."

"For what?"

"For letting me do that."

"Your welcome." Then I remembered her earlier words. And I reached out taking her shoulders, causing her to look up at me startled. "I don't want to hear you talking like you did before. No one, and I mean NO ONE is going to hurt you. I will protect you. You WILL not give up!" I gave her an light shake to get my point across. "Do you understand?!"

She nodded but I could tell that she didn't believe me.

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**A/N: OMG! You hate it don't you! *hides*...*peeks* You're all going WTH?! Aren't you?! Please, please, don't kill me...**

**Gomensai! Please forgive the grammar! I was in a hurry trying to get this out! I'm so sorry that is late...I will try and do better next time! I know that usually I update fast...but I've been sick....and I've been busy at work...but I'm hoping that things will get better!**

**Please leave a review, now most especially, so that I know you all don't hate me! **

**ZEN  
**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Gosh it's getting late! Nearly two in the morning where I'm from! And Guess what! Another chapter! YAY ME! I thought that since I made you wait so long for the last chapter then I would make up for it... I'm back on track with my characters. I must apologize for there outburst last chapter, it wasn't expected and they didn't discuss it with me before proceeding in such a fashion! I would have re-written it but most of the reviews that I got thought that it was a nice outburst...even if it was a little disconcerting (Sorry, Ceda).**

**Since I'm sure that none of you are paying attention to my ramblings...On with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its affiliates, they are the sole responsibility of Kishimoto, whom I envy for being able to come up with such brilliant characters as to inspire FanFictions, and YAOI PAIRINGS! *squeals like the girl I am*!!!!!

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**I sat on the edge of the cot waiting.

Sasuke had left an hour ago. I'd sent him away with a promise that I would still be here in the morning. I'd told him that he needed to get some rest and besides he needed to take care of the kittens. He'd reluctantly left.

At this moment, I wasn't sure if I could keep my promise. Orochimaru was certainly not going to sit by and allow me to return to California. Not with the information that I carried. He had definitely sent people after me.

I heard the door open and watched as a bent figure entered. The figure was wearing a dingy gray cardigan with a peach pleated shirt. A hand that was gloved in white clutched the crook of a wooden cane. A red flowered scarf was tied over steal colored curls. Artfully applied make-up and small square glasses hid the smooth complexion of Tayuya.

When the door closed, she stood upright, hooked the cane over her arm and approached the cell. She stopped outside of it and a gleefully evil smile curved her lips up. Her eyes gleamed as she took in my appearance.

I was dressed but I knew that my hair was tangled and waved in an unruly mass around my head, evidence of the events of an hour before. My face still retained the blush and my lips were kiss swollen.

"Well, well, well. How the moral fiber has frayed," Tayuya sneered. "The upright and virginal Naruto has wallowed in carnal affairs."

"What the hell do you want, Tayuya?" I asked, sick of her jeers. She wouldn't turn the beauty that I'd had with Sasuke and make it ugly. I wouldn't let her.

Her muddy brown eyes gleamed hatred and she smirked at me from the other side of the bars.

"Orochimaru is very upset that you killed his nephew. But not nearly as upset as Ukon." Tayuya dropped the name easily. She waited for my reaction and I didn't disappoint her. I flinched away from her voice, the name filled me with dread. Ukon. Sakon's twin brother.

"I've come here to warn you. Ukon wants you dead and now, so does Orochimaru. It was okay when you didn't remember, we would have given you time, but now that your memory is intact…O wants you dead now. No witnesses, no problem." Tayuya shrugged. "Also, if anything happens and you suddenly spill you guts before we can kill you…. That beautiful specimen of a man won't be so beautiful anymore."

"You bitch! You leave Sasuke alone! He hasn't done anything and he doesn't know anything!" I surged to my feet and made it to the bars in a second. I clutched at the bars wishing that I could wrap my fingers around her neck and squeeze.

Tayuya's evil smile broadened. "Good, now that I have your attention, Orochimaru wants to continue to play…and he's even allowed your…how would you call them?…contacts in to finish it." She turned on her heel and swept back to the door where she resumed her bent, old lady pose. Opening the door she looked back. "It's such a pity to see such a good little girl behind bars. I'm sure that the sheriff will solve everything."

The door closed behind her and my eyes filled with tears. My nightmare continued. I wasn't to have peace and happiness. I couldn't have Sasuke.

I slid to the floor and curled up there in self pity and despair. I was going to keep my promise to be here in the morning but I couldn't keep from giving up. The life I might have had with Sasuke was no more, just wasn't in the stars, or cards for me. Fate had played her hand.

****

"Naruto." Ibiki's gruff voice sliced through me like a blade and I looked up slowly, waiting. "Extradition orders have come through, so we have to leave for the airport now if we are to make the plane." I could see the sympathy in his eyes but I knew, just as he did, that he had a job to do.

I nodded and climbed to my feet. The sleepless night wasn't about to make it easier on me. I swayed with exhaustion. My fist clenched at my sides as I repressed it and walked forward.

Ibiki led me to the outer offices and to a large crowd of people. For a moment, I wondered if many were out to make sure that the murderer among them made it out of town. I was startled when an older woman stepped forward and hugged me.

"I know you didn't do those horrible things, Naruto. You are a good girl. Minato was a good man and any child of his was raised right!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Tagarro," I whispered and let her hug me, before moving to the next person in line.

Ino immediately embraced me and I felt the tears soak into my shirt.

"They're wrong to do this! Chouji and I will be down later, as soon as we catch a flight. We won't let you go through this alone and before you know it, everything will be behind you and you'll be back here in Konoha!"

"I know, Ino," I reassured her trying not to hear the shakiness in her voice.

I moved from one friend to the next and hugged everyone as they whispered the same sentiments over and over. The support of them all was overwhelming and tears flowed unchecked down my face. Shino said something about a transformation and I would be set free to fly with new wings. Lee told me to keep my chin up and show them my youthfulness and they would understand that I hadn't done anything. Sakura stood next to Lee and just shook her head before grabbing me up unable to say anything through her tears.

Shika sighed and muttered that this was very troublesome but he knew some people who were related to Temari.

"I'll give them a call and have them contact you. They are very good," Tamari assured. I nodded to let her know that I trusted her judgment.

"Thank you, guys. But you don't have to do that. I'm sure that I'll be fine," I said with a bright smile. Shika saw right through it and rolled his eyes.

"Troublesome still, Naruto. Regardless, we will make that call and you will tell these people everything." His voice had grown hard which caused my eyes to widen. I'd never heard that tone come from Shikamaru Nara.

"Wow, Shika, I think that Temari is rubbing off on you," I evaded.

"Do not make me come down there and bind you to a chair in order for you to talk to them, I will do so even if it is troublesome."

"Okay, okay, I talk to them, but don't expect miracles."

Shika rolled his eyes and tucked his hands into the front pockets of his pants before nodding.

"I wouldn't want to call you away from your oh so important cloud watching," I muttered rubbing the back of my head.

I turned to find Sasuke standing next to Ibiki talking to him quietly. Ibiki nodded and looked up at me.

"Are you finally ready?" He asked and his tone said that I'd wasted too much of his time. I didn't speak just nodded, keeping my eyes from meeting Sasuke's. "Good. Sheriff Uchiha will accompany us to the airport. Deputy Inuzuka will follow behind us. I don't trust Orochimaru to not pull some stunt before we get there."

I nodded once more. Ibiki was playing it smart, because I knew that Orochimaru was going to do something. And if he didn't Sakon's brother would. I now knew that I'd sealed my fate the same day I'd stuck a knife through Sakon.

We filed out of the door. Fuuma was in front Kiba just behind her. I came next with Sasuke on my right. Ibiki brought up the rear. Each of the police officers had a grip on the guns that were strapped to their belts. I even caught a glimpse of a shoulder holster on Sasuke as the wind caught his jacket and whipped it back.

I wasn't surprised to find that he was heavily armed. If Ibiki had told him anything about Orochimaru, it made sense that he would take precautions. Orochimaru was the equivalent of a drug lord in California. He bought and sold the most popular drugs of choice, smuggling them over in various business pursuits. Through his company he was able to launder large quantities of money. He had his hands dipped into several legitimate business pursuits, from art to pharmaceuticals.

I'd had the misfortune to get involved with his nephew and Orochimaru had thought me the perfect pet for Sakon. I keep his nephew occupied and unbeknownst to me I'd also helped in smuggling the drugs. During the last year of marriage, Orochimaru had paid for me to visit over seas doctors to help me with my condition. The doctors were always ones that he suggested and when I came back, I'd inadvertently brought kilo upon kilo back to the states.

Sasuke sat in the back of the black SUV that they'd loaded me into. There was plenty of room but Sasuke was close enough that our shoulders brushed. I didn't mind the touch, in fact, it was comforting. Having Sasuke with me, made me feel a little braver. It was always the same.

On the first day of school he'd taken my hand and I'd been able to walk through the tall imposing doors. Going to swimming lessons, he'd jumped in first then told me that it was alright. Even out first martial arts tournament, he'd knocked out the boy who'd made fun of me, granted it was in the ring, but still…

"Naruto, tell me what happened."

I glanced at him to see his dark eyes filled with trust. I couldn't help it, I began to speak. My voice was odd to me, very even and matter of fact. I guess it was because I'd resigned myself to my fate and so what I was about to reveal didn't mean so much to me.

"I didn't have a clue what was going on around me even though I should have seen it. There were clues but I didn't connect the dots. Orochimaru would send me to doctors overseas, telling me that they were fertility doctors and they could help me with my problem. I should have seen it. The doctor's offices seemed to be in out of the way places or I couldn't find them at all. If I did find the doctor, he asked me questions—kind of like reading a script. They always were the same questions and when he was done he'd tell me he couldn't help me. When I got back to the room, things would be out of place. I rarely unpack my bags because the tickets were for the same or next day. Once—I suppose it was at the beginning—I'd thought that I'd had too many bags but I was in a hurry so I didn't question it.

"My bags were always packed for me, ready to go when Orochimaru got it into his head that another doctor could help me. I'd be ushered out the door and onto the plane even before I had a chance to think. Then where ever I'd been sent, a limo would be waiting to rush me to the doctor and back to a hotel room or onto the plane again. I never thought about why so many bags were packed for me. I was barely even able to touch them before the limo driver or someone from Orochimaru's organization would grab them up and haul them around. I just thought that it was an eccentricity of Orochimaru's, you know, him thinking that a woman needed to take everything in her closet with her when she takes a trip."

There had been so many airports and countries that a lot of them were blurred in my mind and usually when I got home, I'd been beaten and locked up, or drugged and raped, and during those times, I didn't want to remember or think about it. I'd conditioned myself and my mind to not think to deeply about anything.

"Then, one day I was stepping off the plane when DEA officers surrounded me. I'd never been so scared in my life as to see these angry people surrounding me. They began shouting at me to put my hands on my head so, of course, I did so and the next thing I knew I was in handcuffs and sitting in this small closet of a room at the airport. Needless to say I was in shock and the officer in charge I think saw that.

"He asked so many questions that I can't even remember them all but I do remember him asking me if I knew what was in my suitcases. 'Clothes?' I said. He'd just stared at me with these…I can't even describe his eyes. They were like this teal and silver color but they were…they just didn't have any feeling in them at all. It was like he was a robot and he analyzed everything but didn't let it touch him. Most people even if they are dead inside have some emotion reflected in there eyes but these…" I shuddered at the memory.

"he must have believed me as some point because he offered me a deal. In return for not being brought up on charges of aiding and abetting the smuggling of drugs, I had to turn over evidence of future sells, transportation, and contacts."

"Fuck! Naruto, he didn't have any right to offer you such a deal!" Sasuke bit out in anger.

"Well, he didn't at first. He was just going to arrest me but I told him that I could get the information. During some of the questioning I'd began to realize that I'd over heard many conversations that fit what he was saying. I'd enter a room and a hush would fall over the room where minutes before a discussion was taking place about a drop or pick up. I wasn't the only carrier he had, just the most naïve.

"For the next month, I would listen at doors even as I did everything in my power to not be beaten and locked up. If those things happened then I could very well miss some of the drops. I relayed everything I heard or saw back to the officer. But it was never enough and I was getting frustrated. I wanted out once and for all so I decided that Orochimaru had to keep the information written somewhere. Evidence of sales and all manner of transactions. I went looking for it."

I felt Sasuke stiffen beside me and knew that he was about to start cussing so I rushed on.

"I looked everywhere. His offices…I dropped by on a claim that I thought that I was pregnant and I wanted to tell him. Clumsy as I was, I spilt some wine on him and he rushed out to take care of it. I went through his desk and searched behind every picture for hidden safes or something but it was clean. I searched nearly every room in his mansion and didn't find anything. The only room that I wasn't able to search was the library/study.

"The night that Sakon had his party was the night that I decided would be perfect to go looking. Sakon wanted to celebrate his brother being home. I didn't even know that he had a brother until that night. He played it off as being some sort of business celebration and since it was business he had the party catered which was odd, but I didn't realize that he'd had plans for me.

"The night started off fine. Sakon and Orochimaru entertaining the guests, plying them with food and drink, and talking about business, what Orochimaru was planning next, or his recent acquirement of some hot new artist's work.

"About an hour into the party, I decided to wander away and go looking. I started searching the desk but didn't find anything so I began searching behind the painting. I found it quite by accident. I stood on a chair to reach one of the higher paintings and lost my balance and fell against the book shelf. I knocked off a board. It was one of those small decorative panels that hide the empty section of a bookcase. Inside was a box, a heavy duty lock box. I took it…"

I looked up towards the front of the SUV to see Ibiki glancing back at me then I noticed that Fuuma was holding a small tape recorder. She was halfway turned in her seat and studying me. She gave me a small encouraging smile. I wanted to be angry, but I understood that they needed everything that they could in order to charge Orochimaru.

"What was in the box, Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly drawing my attention back to him.

"I don't know. I wasn't able to get it open, nor was I able to hand it over to my contact. I hid the box with every intention of giving it to the police but I didn't get the chance and I didn't remember it until yesterday.

"I was barely able to get it hidden in a place that I could get to it easily when Sakon came looking for me. Orochimaru had sent him to find me and bring me back to the party for introductions. Then Sakon began to drug me.

"He gave me a drink that was laced with drugs that would insure my compliance. It didn't take long for them to start kicking in. I knew what was happening and I tried to resist but Sakon began to get angry. I knew that I couldn't allow him to beat me or I wouldn't be able to give the box to the DEA. I was nearly desperate to be done with the situation.

"After a little while, the drugs kicked in and everything from then on is hazy. I remember Sakon's brother being introduced to me…he'd been late to the party but I didn't know that until the next morning. Then Tayuya was leading me to one of the upstairs rooms. I was a welcome home gift for Ukon. He…I…"

"It's okay, Naruto you don't have to tell us about that." Sasuke said.

"Yes, I do," I muttered then drew in a deep breath.

I looked out the window and noticed that we were approaching a junction where one road would take us to the airport and the other two headed off in different directions to different towns. Traffic was light and only a few cars were approaching the intersection. The sun caught the van that was approaching from the opposite direction and I squinted against the glare. I heard Ibiki yell something about the van not stopping and barely registered what he was talking about before Sasuke was pushing me back against the seat and chaos erupted around me.

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**A/N: WHOOHOO!!!! A Cliffy! I'm evil, evil, evil! MWAHAHAHAHA!**

**If you want to know what happens next you need to leave a review! Gosh I love cliffhangers! They are the bread on which my toast is buttered! (does that even make sense?) I apologize for all the grammar and or spelling errors...I just wanted to get this thing posted and hope that you all will forgive them! Yes, I know that i should get a beta but....I'm not working on it anymore!  
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**Loves and Hugs to all who have read, favorited, and reviewed!**

**ZEN (who does not leave your world full of zen)  
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	22. Chapter 22

Agony erupted in my head as I forced my eyes open. I knew that I couldn't succumb to the darkness that was playing havoc with my head. Urgency wound around my heart as memories surfaced again. Silence was loud in my ears only broken by the ragged sound of my breathing. My body felt heavy and my head was pounding.

The blurring in my vision faded and I looked around. Things didn't look right from my perspective and I turned my head slowly. Sasuke sat next to me but his arms were skyward and his hair streamed towards the ceiling defying gravity. It was then that I realized that the SUV was upside down and we were hanging in out seatbelts. The topsy-turvy perspective turned my stomach and I felt nauseous.

Sasuke's eyes were closed and I noticed a gash on his forehead where he must have struck it against something. Blood oozed from the wound and eased along towards his hair where it was lost in the dark strands only to be found once more as it dripped from the tips to the roof of the vehicle.

I moved my eyes towards the front and found Detectives Morino and Fuuma in similar positions each sporting cuts, bruises, and scrapes. The airbags must have deployed for they were still slowly deflating and hanging in white pillows from the dash.

"G…guys?" I started but only a hoarse whisper came out, so I cleared my throat and tried again. I reached toward Sasuke to try and shake him awake but stopped midway, not only because I remembered that I shouldn't move a person in a accident incase their spine is injured in some way but also because I became fascinated with the oddity that was my arm. Instead of the straight limb that I was used to it now had a jig in it. I'd broken it in the crash.

"Come on!"

A voice shouted from outside the car and I wondered passingly if someone had arrived to help.

"Get Naruto and let's get out of here. O. still has a meeting and he wants this taken care of as soon as possible," the voice went on to say.

_Shit!_

My hands went to the seat belt and I struggled to get it undone. The sounds of footsteps getting closer and I nearly cried out when I felt a slight tug on the belt and I was suddenly free. Landing on the roof of the overturned SUV, I scrambled to get away only to feel hands on my ankle. I was yanked out of the car abruptly which sent my already swimming head into a whirling torrent and vomit crawled up my throat. Sunlight suddenly pierced my vision making the symptoms worse and I lurched to the side to throw up.

"Fuck! You stupid bitch!"

I barely noticed the shiny black shoes that scooted out of the range of my sick and then the sudden sharp jab caused a stinging throb to race along my side as the world overturned again. I curled into a ball trying to protect myself from another kick. I opened my eye to see who was standing over me and the closed them tightly with a prayer that I was hallucinating.

Sakon was standing over me with Tayuya hanging off his shoulder. The malicious look on the red heads face was enough to terrify me.

Adrenaline pounded through me as the need to flee over took all common sense. I fought the overwhelming misery of the crash and being kick to gain my hands and knees. I staggered to my feet only to be brought around by hands on my arm. The blow to my cheek sent me back to the ground. Wanting to curl into a ball again, I tried to drag my aching body out of reach as quickly as possible.

The futileness wasn't lost on me but I had to try.

Gasping for breath and sobbing at the same time I tugged at the ground, pulling with my arms—unheeding of the broken limb—and pushing with my feet. I disregarded the high laughter that sounded behind me.

"Poor little Naruto," Tayuya's taunting laughter spurned me on and I gained my hands and knees again. "Struggle all you want but O. has plans for you."

"Fuck that! This little bitch is going to die a slow and painful death for what she did to my brother!" Sakon's voice was low, gravelly, menacing.

Blinding white light suddenly pierced my vision and I heard a crack, like it was on the inside of my head before darkness replaced the white and I faded into nothing.

****

The sound of gravel being kicked up by the sudden acceleration of tires pulled me from the darkness. My head throbbed like someone was using a jack hammer on the inside of my skull. The light that tried to pierce through my eye lids spiked straight to my brain and out the other side. I heard a low groan and realized that it was coming from me.

I forced myself to disregard the pain and force my eye lids to part so that I could see. The unique perspective of being upside down inside an over turned vehicle wasn't lost on me but I force the sudden dizziness to the back of my head. Fuuma and Morino were latched into their seats and unconscious in front of me and I turned my head to where I knew Naruto was.

The seat was empty. It took only seconds for the implication to filter through my pain fogged mind and I began to struggle to undo the seat belt. The crash had caused it to lock so I knew that I wasn't going to get out of it by simple undoing the damn thing. I pulled open a small sheath that was secured to my belt and a pocket knife slipped into my hand. Flipping open the blade I sliced through the tough material and fell through the air. I was stopped abruptly by the ground. I moaned as my newly abused brain logged its complaint at this action.

"Morino," I said hoarsely trying to wake them. "Fuuma! Wake up!" I reached out and shook each of their shoulders. Neither moved or made any noise. I shook them again, harder, again no response. I felt Morino's neck looking for a pulse but met a thin sliver of metal sticking out. My mind couldn't figure out what it was so I shifted my body so that I could get a good look at it. A long, thin piece of metal was sticking out of his throat. I turned to Fuuma and saw the same thing. Both had their eyes open and their mouths were hanging agape. I didn't need further confirmation that both were dead.

In the distance I could now hear the sound of sirens and I also heard feet running towards the car and shouting.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

I made my way to the nearest broken window that wasn't smashed to the point of being nearly impossible to get out of. I felt hands grasp my arms and held to pull me out of the overturned SUV. "It's okay, son. Don't move around too much."

I looked up into the warm brown eyes of an older man. He was wearing a wide brimmed hat that helped to block out the sun so I could clearly see his craggy face. He had a deep gray goatee and a pair of wire rimmed glasses that just hung onto the end of his nose. He smiled warmly at me but I didn't feel warm at all.

Behind the man I could see the truck that Kiba had been driving. The black van that had hit us had continued and smashed into the front end of the truck that Kiba had been driving. I saw that someone else was checking on him.

"Inari? Is he okay?" the old man called out.

"Yeah, he hit his head and has a big cut but otherwise he is awake and talking. Keeps asking about a Naruto. Is that Naruto?" Inari hollered back.

The old man looked at me and I shook my head. "Is Naruto still in the car?" He asked me quietly. I shook my head again.

Naruto was gone. Whoever had caused the wreck had taken her and I didn't have the foggiest where they had gone. My head fell into my hands and I wanted to rage at the injustice of the world.

Medics arrived a few minutes later and I was soon being poked and prodded.

The old man I found out was Tazuna, a farmer that lived near by. He was now talking to another of my deputies who had arrived just seconds before the ambulance.

"Tazuna?' I called out to him. The old man immediately came over to see what I needed. "Did you see another car? One that left?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, we did pass another car a few minutes before we got here."

"Do you know what kind of car it was? What color?" I asked urgently.

"It was a dark green van. Um, looked like a Ford but I'm not really sure. I'm better at cattle."

"Which direction was it going?"

"It was going north." Tazuna cocked his head slightly to the side as he studied me with interest. "Was Naruto in that van?"

"I think so," I muttered.

North. What was to the north? There was a lake with lots of rich tourists' homes. "I wonder if Orochimaru has a home up near the lake?"

"Can't hurt to check, boss," Kiba replied as he came up to us. He head was wrapped in a white bandage that stood out like a beacon from his dark hair. He sported various bruises on his face but otherwise he didn't seem worst for wear.

"Hn."

"That's the spirit!"

****

Sitting at my desk, despite the protests that I needed to go to the hospital, I was hacking into the Suna city files. I didn't take me long to locate the files that listed property and who owned them. I scrolled through some of the most well known names. Famous people, infamous people, rich people, politicians, and various other occupations looking for one particular name. An hour later and I had the name and address.

Orochimaru did own a house at Wind Lake. He'd bought it several years ago, before he and his nephew had become acquainted with Naruto. It was an interesting coincidence.

I printed out the location and a map on how to get to the house. I stood just as Kiba entered my office.

"Hey, boss, there are some people here to see you," Kiba stated ominously.

Two men entered as Kiba stepped to the side. The man that entered first had bright crimson hair and a red tattoo on his forehead. The tat was obscured by the hair so that I didn't get a good look at it. The other man was taller with light brown short cut hair. Both were very intimidating in their presence. The first one, I was sure, could kill without remorse. The others eyes seemed to dance like he knew something that I didn't, which he probably did.

"Good morning, gentlemen. I don't have much time so it would be bes—"

"We know about Naruto and we can help find her. The information that she possesses is vital to an on going investigation," the first man stated with little inflection in his voice.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

"Ah, sorry," the second said, "I'm Konkuro and this is Gaara, we are with the DEA."

****

I stared in disbelief while ignoring Kiba who was currently rolling around on the floor incapacitated in his amusement.

"Kiba!" I barked to get his attention. "Quit being an idiot and get up off the floor! you are not helping the situation any."

This only served to remind him of the reason he was there in the first place and his gales were renewed. I rolled my eyes at him and returned my attention to the people in front of me.

"No, absolutely not!" I told them.

"Naruto is our friend too and we deserve the chance to be able to help her too!" Sakura exclaimed perching her perfectly manicured hands on her hips. He glared at the pink haired _therapist_. He sent the glare to the others that stood just as stubbornly behind her.

"One, none of you is trained for this kind of work. Two, you aren't trained for this kind of thing. Three, I'm the sheriff and I will arrest each of you for interfering. Please, let us handle it!"

"But you aren't handling it! You are sitting here doing nothing!" Sakura yelled.

That did it. I braced my hands on the desk and stood up leaning forward. Kiba's laughter stopped and he was trying to crawl out of the office.

"Deputy Inuzuka!" He stopped and turned, he didn't need to hear what I was going to say next he already knew. "I want these people booked and jailed for interference!"

****

My head was still ringing with Sakura's shout of outrage even as I pulled the gun from my holster and checked to make sure that the magazine was still full. I looked behind me at Gaara and Konkuro who were talking into radios. Communicating with the teams that would be going in with me. To my right was Kiba. His face was drawn into such seriousness that even I had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't someone else.

"Okay, looks like they're ready."

The voice came from my left and I glanced at Shikamaru and Jiraiya. How the heck they had talked me into this I couldn't be too sure. All I remember was that they met me outside the station. I'd been in such a hurry to find Naruto that I agreed just to shut them up and speed up the process.

Jiraiya had been trained in law enforcement when he was younger, he knew the laws inside and out. Shikamaru was just too smart for my own good. He knew instinctively when to be where and how to stay out of the professionals way.

"I'm going with Gaara and Konkuro, you two will remain here with Kiba unless we need back up. Do you understand?" I demanded.

They nodded and I sighed. I didn't know how much shit was going to hit the fan today, but when it blew over; I hoped to have a safe and relatively unharmed Naruto in my arms, if not my bed.

I looked to my two team mates and gave them the go ahead. We looked to the huge white house that was perched on the hill in front of us. Not wanting to draw attention, we had parked the vehicles down the road out of sight. This would be a covert operation that no one would know about. Except for the nine plus people that were now occupying the cells of the Konoha Police Station.

I followed Konkuro who followed Gaara, keeping to the trees and bushes that provided adequate coverage as we made out way to the back of the house. At a hundred feet from the home Gaara stopped and held up his fist causing the rest of us to stop. He studied the set up then motioned for Konkuro to go left and we went right swinging around and up onto the patio avoiding the windows and finally reached the door.

"I'm sure that the plans that the town has isn't anything like the floor design that we'll find beyond this point. I do know that there is a hidden stairway that leads into the tunnels but first we have to secure the upstairs and make sure that Naruto isn't being held there. Let's be quick, and silent." We nodded to indicate that we understood Gaara. He reached for the door. "Hook and button." Again we nodded. He opened the door and both Konkuro and I slipped through guns out and ready, then Gaara brought up the rear.

The house was dark; very little light was able to get past the thick dark curtains. We hesitated for a few second to allow our eyes to adjust to the darkness. I wanted to immediately storm the tunnels searching for Naruto but I understood that Gaara wanted to secure the upstairs and get his men into place in case one of the criminals made it past us.

It took less than five minutes to search the upstairs. We found one man snoring in the TV room and he was now gagged and handcuffed. Gaara radioed his men to come in and I waited more than a little impatiently until I saw Kiba, Shika, and Jiraiya enter. I frowned at them.

"One of the teams was caught in a trap at the front of the house, so we came in their place," Kiba explained with a shrug.

"Fine, but be careful!" I snarled at them, more in concern than actual anger.

They nodded as they took up positions to watch the door of the tunnels we were about to enter.

"Okay, they are bound to check in with there man so we don't have much time and we have a lot of ground to cover. Let's hope that we get lucky and find Naruto quickly. It'll make out jobs much easier if we can catch them by surprise." Again Gaara made sense and we entered the tunnels.

The corridor stretched out before us and I was more than a little surprised that the walls weren't crudely a crudely cut tunnels but actually finished and re-enforced with concrete. It was also slightly chilly in the corridors.

"It stays forty degrees year round from what I've been able to obtain," Konkuro stated quietly so his voice didn't carry down the corridor. I nodded and wondered if Naruto was alright, if she was warm or not.

We trekked down the first corridor until it split off in three different directions. We hadn't past any doors but according to the information the DEA agents had been able to obtain we wouldn't find any doors until now. The only question that remained was whether we needed to split up or not.

"We can cover more ground if we split up," Konkuro said. Gaara and I agreed. "I'll take the left, Gaara right, and Sasuke, you take the center. If you do find Naruto secure your position but do _not_ engage until you have back up, do you understand, Sheriff?"

I nodded but I wasn't going to make any promises. If Naruto was in immediate danger then I was going to get her out of there with or without back up. Konkuro stared at me for a few more seconds and I realized that he understood that fact. He also didn't think that Naruto would be down this area which is probably why he gave it to me. I partially hoped that he was wrong.

I ran as quickly and I quietly as I could down the corridor until I reached the first door. With my pistol held at the ready, I opened the door and slipped into the room…Empty. There wasn't even a stick of furniture and cobwebs hung from the corners of the ceiling dusty, wafting gently in the slight breeze. Nothing had been in here for a very long time. I slipped out and continued down the corridor. After about five minutes and several more doors, Konkuro asked for a status check.

"I haven't found anything or anyone," Gaara commented.

"Same," I said, my chest heaving from running for a full five minutes only pausing long enough to look in rooms.

"Neither have I. Lets continue," Konkuro said then radioed out.

After fifteen minutes I reached the end of my corridor and was now looking down stairs.

"Konkuro," I said hitting the button on my radio.

"Yes," came the low hiss.

"I've finished my section but at the end of the corridor there is a set of stairs leading down. Do I continue?"

"Stairs? The map didn't indicate any stairs." I could hear the confusion in Konkuro's voice.

"Maybe they added this after your informant was down here last."

"Maybe… Wait for us to catch up."

"Negative, the longer we wait the more danger to Naruto. Besides I'm sure that they have checked in with their man upstairs and know that something is up." I said starting down the stairs.

"Uchiha! I don't care if you were a big shot at the academy, you will follow orders or I will have your badge when this is over."

"Fine, you can have my badge, but I'm going to find Naruto." I shut the radio off and continued down the stairs.

It was obvious that Konkuro had done a background check on me before allowing me to be on this case. Yeah, I'd been top of my class at the academy, but Uchiha's always were no matter what they took an interest in. I could have had any job anywhere but I wanted to stay in Konoha. That way I would be there when Naruto came back. In my mind there had never been an 'if' it was always 'when.'

The stair led down several feet before I found myself once again in a concrete lined corridor. This hallway was lit up with a few candles here and there but still very dim as I made my way along it. A chill spread up my spine at the sinister feel of the place and I knew that I was getting closer to Naruto. I slowed down my pace until I crept along to the first door. Not having come across any signs of life upstairs, I was much more cautious.

I really didn't know how many people they had brought with them. I did know that they were down two people. One from the wreck, he had died at the scene even before the ambulance arrived, and the guy upstairs that was currently tied and gagged.

I opened the door and found the room full of equipment. Monitor spread out along one wall and my eyes widened as I took in the room where several officers stood watching the man that was handcuffed to a chair.

_SHIT!_ I hit the button to my radio.

"Konkuro! They know we're here! They have a monitor and they've been watching out every move!"

Nothing but static reached my ears. Konkuro didn't respond.

_Fuck! _

I turned and came to a halt seeing a man standing in front of me with a sardonic smirk.

"Hello, bitch, I'm Sakon, Naruto's husband.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I know that I'm weird, but I wanted to combine these two chapters. So I hope that you don't mind.**


	23. Chapter 23

My gaze was blurred but the movement of the door caught my attention and I looked up. Holding a metal case, Ukon entered. His thin lips twitched as he looked at me, then went to a table that was set up in my line of vision and deposited the case on it. I ignored him as much as possible focusing on a ripped hole in my jeans.

I was tied to a chair in the middle of what looked to be a cell. There weren't any window in the room and the walls seemed to be made of cement. Several candles were lit in the room providing light and the chill air had long since numbed my body…except for my broken arm which throbbed intensely.

I dimly heard the tinkling of metal against metal but didn't register the sound. I was going to die, it was a fact that I'd been given enough time to get used to. There were many things that I had wanted to do before this day arrived. In my youth, I'd wanted to see the world, walk along the Great Wall of China, gaze upon Mount Fiji, swim in oceans that were so clear that it seemed like you could touch the bottom even thought they were fathoms deep. I'd wanted to marry someone and have a large family…in recent weeks that someone had become Sasuke.

The thought of him caused my heart to ache. And I forced my mind to empty. I couldn't think of Sasuke right now, it was too painful, maybe when I breathed my last I could think of him…

"Did you know that Sakon is alive?' Ukon stated nonchalantly his back still turned to me.

I frowned. Sakon was alive…this statement filtered into my foggy brain. I been given a dose of the drugs that Sakon had been giving me in order to make me compliant.

"But it doesn't matter; I'm still going to kill you. Only this time I'll wait until after I get the information as to where that little box is hidden. Orochimaru wants that first and then he doesn't care what happens to you afterwards. In that little box is a journal of the transactions, kind of like a blackmail book but more importantly the receipe and notes of the little drug that is now floating in your system. It's new, you see. Uncle O and Sakon were using you as a test subject…since you weren't useful in other ways. And uncle O needs the recipe and notes in order to present them to potential buyers. So here I am to take care of that little detail.

"It's too bad really. You were quite the little demon in bed. I wouldn't mind trying out that body again. But then you had to go and try and kill Sakon, which I thought you had succeeded. Seems like Orochimaru had some plans for Sakon that involved everyone here thinking he was dead. Since that little slip up of Orochimaru's, letting you get a hold of that box, Uncle O had to find a scapegoat or two. It was arranged that you and Sakon would get into a fight and you would try and kill Sakon. Brilliant planning on Uncle's part, and it seemed to work."

My hazy mind began to remember the events and put things together. In my panic, I'd tried to call Gaara and Konkuro but Orochimaru had shown up, taken the phone from my hand and disconnected the call. I dimly remember thinking that I'd heard someone answer and hoped that they'd come looking.

Orochimaru had been livid in his anger, shouting accusations and hitting me. I'd been able to flee outside. Ukon had been waiting in the car and saw me come running outside with Orochimaru following, shouting that I'd killed Sakon. I remember hearing the revving of the engine followed by a shove then nothing until I woke up in the hospital.

Ukon was approaching me now with a scalpel held in his left hand. I saw this with clarity and nearly giggled. Sakon was right handed, now I knew how to tell them apart.

Ukon pulled my head back by my hair.

"Maybe I'll start by plucking your lovely blue eyes out. I could display them in a special case for all to see. Remember the bible says an eye for an eye." He was quoting scripture at me and I knew that he had descended into madness.

The sharp edge of the scalpel neared my eye and it seemed like the world slowed down. My vision enhanced and I could see the small lines in the blade from the grinder. Everything behind it was blurred out.

But the scalpel never landed, instead, chaos erupted. I blinked and tried to focus on the bodies that were crashing about the room. Several people were being thrown about the room, unable to figure out what was happening, my brain seemed to over load, and my mind shut down.

****

****

Shikamaru looked over at Temari who was holding their brand new baby girl. Smiling in a rush of happiness, he turned back to the ceremony. In the arched bower were two people who were fated to be together. The bride wore a simple but elegant white dress and held a bouquet that was made up of white roses and tiny blue flowers. The same blue flowers were used as decoration for the brides honey blond hair. The groom stood straight and proud next to here listening intently to what the priest was telling them. His tuxedo was fitted to perfection and accommodated his wide shoulders. His white hair was pulled back from his head and tied with a simple thong.

"They look so good together," Temari said leaning toward him. "I never thought I'd see the day when Jiraiya would remarry."

"True. And Tsunade looks very beautiful and happy. It was troublesome getting them together but I'm glad that everything worked out right.

"Where are Sasuke and Naruto?"

"Jiraiya didn't want to interrupt their honeymoon, so he hasn't told them." Shika sighed at the trouble this would bring when Naruto got back. His mind lapsed back and he reminisced about everything that had happened.

Kiba had been trying to get someone on the radio but silence had greeted them. Unble to contact anyone in the team Kiba decided that they would head in. They had found the several men dead lying in pools of blood. At the top of the stairs leading into the tunnels they'd met up with Sasuke's brother, Itachi and a black man by the name of Kisame. Sasuke had asked Itachi to help in finding Sakon. It seems that Itachi had contacts that could get information much quicker than the police. Kisame had found out that the dead body wasn't Sakon but just a pawn in Orochimaru's organization. Itachi and Kisame had taken care of most of O's subordinates and had just gotten into the house. Heading into the tunnels, they'd found Konkuro first. He was being helped out by a pale man with white hair. Konkuro looked at them sheepishly then introduced them to Kimimaro who was their inside man.

Kimi told them that Orochimaru had been killed by one of his buyers who'd found out that he'd planted Sakon in their organization to spy. Once he'd heard word of Orochimaru's death from Sakon who was running from the same buyer, they'd flown here. Ukon already had Naruto and Sakon had told his brother to get the boxes location from Naruto. Sakon wanted the recipe for him self and was going to proceed to sell it to the highest bidder. Orochimaru had double crossed everyone and had been in such financial straights that none of his money was left. Sakon needed the recipe in order to continue to live the lifestyle he was accustomed to.

Leaving Kimi to help Konkuro out they'd found Gaara at the end of the hallway about to descend to another level. He had a couple of bullet wounds but nothing serious and they convinced him that he would just be in the way with his wounds so he headed back out.

They'd reached the first door and heard a crash from inside. Bursting in they were in time to see Sasuke pull his revolver and shoot. Sasuke had stood over him, chest heaving from his fight. In an eerie voice he'd spoken to the dead man.

"Now, lets see you come back from that."

Kiba had shuddered at the voice and carefully approached the raging man.

"Sasuke?"

Eyes that flickered red in the dim light latched onto Kiba and for a moment Shika had thought that Sasuke was going to attack him. But then they found Itachi and Kisame and he seemed to grow calmer. He didn't seem surprised to see his brother there instead…

"You're late."

"Ah, Sasuke. Do you know how many people were stationed outside? It was tough taking care of them without alerting the authorities that were out there too."

"Hn,' the man grunted then turned back to Kiba, Shika, and Jiraiya.

They'd filled Sasuke in on what had happened before they went in search of Naruto. It hadn't taken them long since Kiba's nose was extra sensitive and he'd been able to sniff out Naruto's subtle scent, literally.

They'd broken the door in to see the dead man leaning over Naruto with a scalpel to her throat. Sasuke was across the room in an instant, tearing the man's hand away from Naruto and tossing him across the room. Tayuya had rushed in to help and a brief fight had ensued. It was over quickly since they out numbered the two. Tayuya had ended up dead and Ukon unconscious.

Sasuke had carried Naruto out, then spent the next week at her bed side until she recovered fully from the overdose of drugs in her system. It was a miracle that they hadn't killed her.

When she woke up she'd talked to Gaara and Konkuro telling them where she had hidden the box. They'd made sure that she was cleared of all charges, then had to spend the following year rounding up buyers and sellers. It was one of the biggest drug smuggling operations to have been broken, though many people died before they'd been able to dismantle the whole operation.

Tsunade had come down to visit her favorite patient and never went back. She'd fallen in love with the town and people on first sight. She'd bought Naruto house since Naruto was living with Sasuke and didn't need it.

Everything of Orochimaru's and Sakon's had been sold off and Naruto had donated the money to charities across the country that specialized in abuse victims. It had gone a long way to helping with her recovery. Just knowing that she could help someone else out had soothed a part of her mind and the embarrassment that came with being a victim herself. She'd also gone to a group therapy session twice a month and talked about her experiences with them.

Shika felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out flipping it open to read the message that flashed onto the screen. After a moment he began to punch buttons sending a message back.

Temari frowned at her husband, irritated that he would be texting someone during Jiriaya's wedding.

"Who was that?" she hissed quietly so no one else was disturbed.

"Naruto. She wanted to know how the wedding was going."

Temari blinked in surprise.

"I thought that Jiraiya hadn't told her."

Shika shrugged. "It was too troublesome to try and plan another wedding around planning Naruto's and Sasuke so Tsunade told her and they planned both of them together." He nodded to the portrait of Tsunade in her gown. It wasn't a photograph but an actual painting. "Who do you think did the painting?"

Temari grinned. "Naruto is really good, isn't she?"

"Yes, most of her paintings have sold. The lowest went for around ten thousand dollars."

The priest stepped back announced, "May I please present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jiraiya…" The crowd roared with approval as they stood clapping and tossing bird seed as the couple rushed down the isle.

****

"So how is the happy couple?"

"They are great," I said snapping my phone shut and tucking it into the bag that rested next to me. I settled back onto the towel that was stretched out over the front of the boat. My orange bikini seemed to glow in the sun against my tanned flesh. I knew that Sasuke's eyes were devouring me as he stood at the wheel. I cracked open my eyes and grinned up at him.

The clear water lapped against the sides as he checked gages and set the wheel. There wasn't anyone around us so we were in semi privacy.

Sasuke descened the stairs and came around to sit next to me. His hand found my leg and began to rub the flesh paying close attention to the scars that still lingered there. He rubbed the tight muscles and I closed my eyes I bliss just feeling the pleasure that it induced.

"So Mrs. Uchiha, on this list of what you want to do, does it include making love on a boat out in the middle of nowhere?" his low voice purred in my ear. His breath cause goosebumps to break out and I shuddered in near ecstasy.

"Now that you mention it, it does. Right after swimming in the water!" I leaped to my feet and dived into the crystal clear, but cold water. The next instant I felt a hand wrap around my waist and pull me into Sasuke's warm chest. Lips closed over mine.

"I'm glad that you came home," he said, when our heads broke the surface.

"Me too."

* * *

**A/N: I didn't want to go through all the details, because...I really suck at fight scenes. I just gave you an over view of what happened and then ended with the Happily ever after. I hope that not too many of you were disappointed. This was a bitch to write... I may eventually go back and rewrite this, but for now I'm calling it complete. **

**I want to thank all my readers that had stuck it out until the end, If you have any questions or comments go ahead and leve them...I love hearing about you opinions and they might help in writing a better ending to this fiction! I also want to thank everyone who has favorited this story, or me...you guys are awesome! And I especially want to thank anyone who has reviewed, you will live forever on this sight and in my heart!  
**


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